


Code: Realize - Children of the Moon

by SassyFlamingo2



Category: Code:Realize ～創世の姫君～ | Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth (Visual Novel), Code:Realize～創世の姫君～ | Code:Realize ~Sousei no Himegimi~ | Code:Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ (Anime)
Genre: Abused character, Airships, Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Assassins & Hitmen, Cooking, Cooking Lessons, Cuddling, Cute, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Epic Battles, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Flying, Funny, Gargoyles, Humor, Impey/Luna, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Orphans, Past Abuse, Presents, Repressed Memories, Romance, Scars, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Some Humor, Sweet, Vampire/Werewolf Relationship, Vampires, Van Helsing is a horrible cook, Werewolf Healing, Werewolves, adding more tags as I go, bitter memories, funny moments, gyspies, lemon pies, traumatic past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2020-11-26 21:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 52,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassyFlamingo2/pseuds/SassyFlamingo2
Summary: Luna Iselda was a lovely female werewolf kidnapped from her pack at a young age. Forced to fight in an endless series of battles for the enjoyment of bloodthirsty Londoners, starved and beaten if she didn't. As the years go by, the abuse takes it toll on her body, reducing her to a skeletal version of her former self and no longer able to shift to her human form. So weak that she can't even stand on her feet, she is left behind to die by the very ring of lowlifes who kidnapped her so long ago.Impey Barbicane. The energetic, overly amorous, and always smiling vampire engineer who proudly proclaims himself to be a genius engineer and will one day travel to the moon. When he and his friends are recruited by Queen Victoria herself to investigate a strange series of kidnappings involving the remaining supernatural inhabitants of London, it comes as a shock. Ever more of a surprise is the emaciated wolf that he finds at the location of their first investigation. Ignoring his friend's protests, Impey returns to Saint-Germain's mansion with the wolf and nurses her back to health, only to be surprised when she turns back into a beautiful but still fearful girl...





	1. Chapter 1 - The Rescue

Pain.

Hunger.

The door slams.

Heavy feet stomp closer.

I'm tired. So tired. Just let me sleep.

A boot slams into my ribs. Pure white flashes in front of my eyes.

"Get up!" He growls. The stench of heavy liquor and cheap cigarettes rolls off his clothing. 

I stumble to my feet. Legs trembling from exhaustion and malnutrition. 

My eye slits open. _His _ face leers through the bars of my prison with that sneering smirk.

"Send the little bitch in next!" he yells to some unknown subordinate. "She's always a moneymaker!"

Two faces blurry in the haze that clouds my vision lift my cage. I'm flying. 

It stops. There is a thud, and a push to my backside. I jolt out of the cage and land on my stomach. The action stirring the soft bed of sand underneath my hands. 

No. Not hands._ Paws._

Something shaped like a pincer snips the strap that runs along my ears and holds the muzzle containing my jaws in place. The metal cage falls to the sand with a soft whump.

Screaming cheers roar up with power of thunder itself. The endless sea of faces all blurred together as one endless mass.

Don't make me do this again.

There is another thud and clang. Something warm and fresh is thrust into the arena with me. A snarling, slavering beast that drives the crowd into an even louder frenzy.

Please don't make me do this again.

"The next match is....The Beast from beneath London vs. The Iselda wolf!" The announcer screams out over the crowd's frenzy.

The metallic clang of the bell.

No. Please no. 

The jaws sink into my leg. The stabbing pain so wild that I scream. 

I can't do this again. 

Just let me die.

The jaws gnaw upwards to my throat.

I won't die.

My fangs snap. Soft flesh parts under my bite. Hot blood splatters my face. The feeble throes of death wriggling under my hold before turning still. 

The crowd screams.

It's over. 

"Once again, the Iselda wolf is the winner! She lives to fight another day!" He calls out to the crowd. The jangle of purses and coins are being distributed to the winners and collected from the losers. 

The smell of fresh meat is overpowering from the prone body at my feet. 

No. No, I won't.

My stomach cramps.

No. 

I'm so hungry.

I can't.

My jaws open. Tearing a bleeding chunk of the shoulder.

I don't want to. Please don't make me.

I'm starving. 

Gagging on the rancid taste of the meat. I sink my fangs into the cooling corpse again and again. Gorging myself as fast as I can before they take this away too.

When my stomach is bulging, something forcefully hits my neck from behind. Cool to the touch, it jabs straight to my skin.

There is a buzz and then everything darkens to black.

~~~~~

I'm so hot. 

It feels like my skin is on fire.

My stomach is cramping. Twisting around and turning itself inside out not from hunger, but from the weight of the meat.

My eye cracks open just enough that I can see. 

It's dark again.

Off in the distance, I can just faintly make out shadowy heads bobbing around. They're saying something.

My ears flick.

"Go! Go! We've got to move it! Load it all up!"

One of the shadow men moves towards my cage. 

I try to stand but I can't. I can see my trembling legs but I can't feel them. 

My stomach rolls with the effort, fiery bile searing a path up my throat as my stomach contents emerge. The most I can do is pull myself with my front legs to the corner of the cage and heave till if feels like my insides are coming out. 

"Oh, gross! This one is sick. It's barfing all over the floor!"

"Just leave it then, it won't last long anyway."

The nausea subsides as the last of the half-digested meat leaves my stomach and slithers onto the floor, only shortly following the departure of the men.

I'm so tired again. 

Flicking my ears around, the only sound I can hear is the pure calm of silence. 

They left me alone.

They left me to die.

Looking around, I try to see if there is any way I can get out of this cage. If I could just get the door open, maybe I could drag myself to freedom from these iron bars. If only this wasn't the thousandth time I've wished to do so. I know better. There is no escape.

I'm going to die.

My eyelid feels so heavy. Maybe I should just close them for a little while. Take a little nap and then I can try to break out.

No! No! I can't go to sleep now. Got to get out.

I'm just so tired.

Somethings heavy hits the floor. 

Oh... it's my head.

Don't go to sleep.

I'm so tired.

The darkness rises up again, cool and soft and so, so soothing. 

Maybe I can sleep for just a little while.

~~~~~

Something hard slams into the door, sending it flying off the hinges and skittering across the room.

Just leave me alone and let me sleep. Please. 

"Prepare yourselves foul villains for the wrath of MR. IMPEY!" 

There is a thump and crash as something large, loud and male falls flat on the floor. He groans in pain.

"Impey, are you alright?" A softer voice speaks, still distinctly male but lacking the overall volume of the first one.

People are here. Different people. Not_ them._

But would they help me? Would they even care?

It feels like a herculean effort, but I manage to lift my closed eye open. 

Two tall shapes are filtering through the gloom. Each one holding a beam of light as they travel around the room. The loud one is first, sweeping the room while he chatters to the other. The shadows outlining their figures against the distant light, but the shapes are wrong somehow.

They look like monsters.

The loud one is still chattering, human shaped with two arms stretched out in front of him but one long, thin appendage seems to sprout from the back of his head, bobbing along as he moves. Another appendage trails limp from his back, not moving except when he leans over. It's like he has two extra arms, but attached in the wrong spots. Or maybe they are tentacles, something more like an octopus might have. Maybe he is an octopus man?

The quiet one is not nearly as confusing to look at. Human-shaped as well, but he has an obvious set of long, leathery wings hanging from his back. They remind me of bat wings, even making the same brush and slap sound as he moves around. He is a bat man.

The monsters move closer and I sink father back into my cage.

If these monster could escape capture, then they must be terribly strong.

So strong that they would probably eat me for a snack.

Easing myself around into the tightest ball I can curl into, I lie silently and wait for them to pass.

Even that motion felt it was too much. The overpowering sense of exhaustion sending the black waves to dance along the edges of my blurry vision, threatening to suck me back under once more.

They continue to move closer, the loud one still complaining.

"Hey, Fran. Are you sure we got the right place? Cause this one sure is empty even if it smells like death."

"I don't know, Impey. This is the address Leonhardt gave us."

"Hmph, maybe Lupin and Van are having more luck than we are."

The loud one is standing so close now that I can smell him even with my muted senses. The stink of grease and oil hangs heavy like an aura around him... but there is also something else underneath that... a different smell like cinnamon and sunshine as well.

Just go away and leave me alone.

The loud one steps forward, the light shining bright into my eyes.

"Hey, Fran. That smell is stronger over here... Woah!"

My lips curl, showing off my fangs. A raspy, rattling growl groaning from my throat in warning.

Don't touch me or I will kill you.

"Fran! Over here! It's a dog! And it's in really bad shape too!"

The loud one drops to his knees and places the lantern on the floor while the quiet one comes rushing over at his call. He is a man, long and lanky with spiky red hair framing his face and a pair of grease stained goggles perched atop his head like a second pair of eyes. Huge green eyes peer deep into my cage without any hint of fear or cruelty. Instead, they glimmer brightly with unshed tears. His gloved hands latch on tight to bars of my cage, the leather straining across his knuckles like he is stopping himself from ripping it apart.

"Hey, there. Aren't you a pretty girl." The loud man's voice is now soft and trembling. He reaches one hand into my cage, fingers spread wide. 

His smile is kind but hands aren't.

Hands hit and punch. Searching out the weakest spots to bruise and batter. 

I lean back further into my cage.

Just leave me alone.

"Impey! Don't stick your hand in there!" The quiet one yells as he runs towards the man kneeling at my cage. My vision darts to him before returning to the one he called Impey. The other man is not nearly so dirty, but looks very worried. What I thought was wings instead is a long white coat. "You don't know what's wrong with it!"

"It's okay, Fran. She's not going to hurt me." Impey whispers. A single tear trailing down his cheeks. "How could someone mistreat a pretty thing like you?"

His hand inches closer.

My growl increases.

Don't touch me.

"What are you two yelling about?" Another man stomps into the room. His voice is loud and stern, a soldier's voice. He smells bitter, like gunpowder. As soon as he steps close to the other two, a scowling face with messy blonde hair and glasses is revealed. The scowl quickly transforms into shock and he reaches forward to yank Impey's arm out of my cage and hall him to his feet. "Impey, you idiot! Can't you recognize a wolf when you see one?"

"She wasn't going to hurt me, Van!" Impey yells, yanking his arm free of the blonde's grasp. The tears are now flowing freely down his face like twin rivers. "She's just scared and abused. We've got to help her."

"Impey... I don't know if you can save this one." The one called Fran timidly inches forward to peer in my cage. I snap my jaws, and he immediately lurches backwards. "She is severely malnourished and dehydrated to the point that her skeletal system is completely visible through her skin, she is missing most of her hair, and doesn't appear to be able to walk or stand on her own. Not to mention whatever kind of injury she has sustained to her eye." He pauses and points to the pile of my previous stomach contents still lingering on the floor. "Also, whatever her last meal was is lying right there. So, her body is already rejecting large amounts of food and there is no telling what kind of internal damage she already has. It's going to take a lot of work. Impey. A lot of work. Even more so than Sisi." 

Impey bends down and looks me straight in the eye. "That doesn't matter. A pretty lady needs help, so just leave it to Mr. Impey. I promise you, I'll help you get well again." 

The scowling blonde steps forward and unholsters something from his back. 

A gun. 

"Van, what are you doing?" Fran nervously asks while Van pulls bullets from his pocket and loads the gun. The dread in his eyes shows that he knows exactly what the answer is going to be.

"When I was in the army, I saw horses abandoned in this same state of neglect before. Very rarely did they survive in a livable condition. It's usually kinder to put the beasts out of their misery than let them linger on in the state of constant pain." Van brings the gun up level and aims between the bars.

I snarl. Cringing back into the smallest target that I can make myself into.

"Van Helsing, don't!"

The gun fires, a clap of thunder so loud it is deafening.

My eye closes. 

I wait for the impact. 

It never comes.

Blinking open, I see something very surprising. Impey was holding the still smoking muzzle of Van's gun aloft to the ceiling with one hand. The two men glared at each other, neither willing to concede their point. "You fool!" Van growls out after a moment, jerking the gun out of Impey's hand. 

"I couldn't let you do that Van. Not to this one." Impey pulls his arm out of the sleeve of his jumpsuit and unfastens the top, leaving him in just the orange pants and sleeveless white tank top. Oddly, it just now hits me that what I seen in the shadows was his long red braid and the dangling sleeve of his jumpsuit in the shadows, not tentacles. 

Impey bends down and pulls on the latch holding the door of my prison together. It crumbles in his hand and falls free. "Come on, pretty lady. Come to Mr. Impey." He squats down and crawls into my cage on his hands and knees, his shoulders still scrape along the top because he is so tall.

I'm still growling but it doesn't have the strength it did before.

I'm so tired of fighting. 

"Come here, honey." Impey lays the jacket across my body like a blanket. A warm blanket that smells like grease and sunshine.

So, so tired. 

Strong arms lift me up, holding my body close to his own despite the filth and grime. 

"It's all going to be okay. I promise."

My head falls limp on his shoulder. 

"Aww! Aren't you just the sweetest thing! All the pretty ladies just can't help but fall victim to my irresistible charm, although I can't just keep calling you pretty lady even though you are. I wonder what your name is." 

One single thought stands out before he darkness sweeps over again and I plunge into the depths.

_My name is Luna._


	2. Chapter 2 - The Recovery

_~Impey~_

"Hold her still, Impey!" Fran yelped when Luna's teeth barely missed his fingers. He jumped back, bandage still in hand while I struggled to hold the wolf.

"Come on, Luna! You gotta cool it so we can help you!" I growled fiercer than I really meant to. Even starved and weak, the one-eyed wolf in my grasp still kicked and rolled like a champion fighter, her head barely missing my chin as she thrashed. Fran had offered to knock her out earlier with some of his special medicine so we could wash her down, clean, and bandage her wounds, but the fear in her eyes and the way her body cringed when he came forward with that needle told me all I needed to know. She's totally scared, not just of us but also of most stuff in general -- especially the way she trembled looking at Lupin's top hat. There's nothing scary about his hat, but she practically went into convulsions and tried to drag herself out of my cute little automobile at the sight of it. Lupin had to take it off and place it on the floor just so she would stop. 

Other than that, she was very calm on the ride home. There was a few times I thought she had died in my arms, but she was usually asleep. Although one time I did catch her staring at the full moon with the same sense of amazement I felt when I looked at it. That's what sparked the idea to call her Luna... and Van Helsing called me an idiot for wanting to name her just "Moon". 

"Luna, honey. You're going to hurt yourself if you keep fighting like this." I really didn't want to use my super-strong vampire strength against her, but she was really fighting hard not to let Fran bandage her hurt eye. She didn't have a problem when we washed all the dirt and blood off her fur and skin with warm water -- I think she did enjoy that part because she closed her good eye and dozed for a bit -- and she didn't even flinch when Fran wiped her eye, bite wounds, and scratch marks with his antiseptic, and I know that stuff hurts like hell! It must be something about the bandages that sets her off. 

At least she seems to be feeling better, as soon as we got to the car, Fran pulled a waterskin from our supply pack and poured some water in a shallow dish. I placed her down on the ground next to the bowl, and Luna drank so much that we were afraid she'd be sick, but she actually turned out to be okay. Keeping down that bit of water and a piece of jerky from the rations in the pack. That little bit of food must have gave her a lot of energy, because she certainly was much stronger now. Even with me holding her, her good eye is white-rimmed with fear against the gold iris, staring deep into my own with such emotion that tears fall from my own eyes.

"Impey, I really think we need to sedate Luna. For her safety as well as ours." Fran covers his mouth with his hand and whispers. "If she keeps fighting like this, she's at risk of breaking a bone or injuring herself worse."

I really don't want too, but I do understand what my pal is saying -- I'm not a total idiot despite what Mister Shotgun Four-Eyes, and sometimes Lupin, claim. Even with the crusty blood and crap gone from her bad eye, it's still hot and swelled shut. The bite wounds on her shoulder and neck could you a bandage too because they're still leaking blood when she moves. "Okay, honey. Don't worry about Dr. Fran and his nasty bandages for awhile. Would you like for Mr. Impey to get you something delicious to eat? I know you're hungry, so I bet the answer is yes." Luna's tail thumps twice as I laid her down on the table, her head towards me, rump towards Fran. Rubbing my fingers through the scraggly brownish-blonde fur behind her ears, I try not to flinch when Fran rushes forward and plunges the needle into her flank. I barely hear the growl come out of her throat before her fangs latch onto my arm. It's kinda cool actually, I'm staring at my arm, her fangs deep in my skin and blood oozing onto the floor, but there's no pain. I mean, nothing at all. It's like my arm is just dead weight. There, but no feeling. It's kinda cool actually. 

What's not cool is the way Luna is staring at me now, her eye is already growing hazy, but also glowing with anger because I broke my promise. Fran is screaming like a maniac because she bit me, but better me than him. I do have Impey's Special Super-Speedy Healing after all, and Fran is just a regular guy. I can already see it's deep but not deep enough to cause any real damage, it will heal up in no time and I won't even have to bandage it. 

In just a few seconds, Luna is already so sleepy that she's letting me rub the side of her face with my uninjured hand. I never would have thought the last few days would have led to this, a battered little werewolf who's already stole my heart. I peep across Luna's limp body to make sure Fran isn't paying attention to us -- He's deciding what kind of medicine to use for her wounds -- before whispering. "The other's haven't figured out how special you are yet. Don't worry though. I won't tell them till you get ready. Mr. Impey has a little secret of his own too, although I do trust my close friends with it." I make sure to wink and point to my fangs. She blinks slowly but I think she gets it. "You'll learn to trust them too. Right now, you just focus on getting better." 

I lean forward and plant a big ole kiss right between her eyes. She blinks once and then closes, the sedation fully in effect.

_Three days earlier..._

"I'm sure you are all wondering why I've called you here today." The adviser to the queen known as Marquis Renfield shuffled a stack of paper between his hands before handing them to across his desk. "You'll find the first piece of the puzzle contained in these."

Gracious and beautiful as ever, the lovely angel known to us as Cardia accepted the stack and disturbed them to each one of us with that beautiful beaming smile that could charge up the whole world if she wanted to. "Here you go, Impey." 

"Wow, a gift from my beloved! I'll treasure this always." I winked at her while taking the paper from her delicate hands. As usual, she giggled. A sound that could rival the most melodious chiming of bells. Lupin threw an angry glare over his shoulder, but I ignored them. He knows my flirting isn't serious, I would never break up the loving relationship they have, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun making Cardia happy as well. 

"Before we continue, I'd like for you all to completely absorb the material before you." Renfield broke off as the heads of my friends glancing down at the papers. Cardia gasped, her hand rising to cover her open mouth, while Lupin radiated a calm fury as he read. The paper in Fran's hand trembled so hard, I don't see how he could read it. Van Helsing stood in the corner, his furious gaze fixed on the floor and threatening to scorch through Renfield's exotic carpet -- I bet he already knew what this whole thing was about since he's been working for Renfield as a bodyguard. Even Sainty-G's constant smile was stressed. I gulped and looked down at my own paper. Surely whatever it was couldn't be that bad, nothing that the world's greatest engineer couldn't help solve?

I was wrong.

The report explained a current wave of disappearances occurring all around London and extending even to Wales. The few surviving vampires seem to be the main target, although anyone with a supernatural connection are targeted as well, even some animals believed to beasts of myths were stolen as well. The violence didn't seem to stop there, according to testimonials provided by army soldiers who witnessed the acts. Once kidnapped, the person or animal was then starved and forced to fight in an arena of combat for their next meal. Usually being the survivor dining on the loser. Once the winning fighters became too weak, it said that were usually left behind or fed to the other fighters. The fights kept going as more kidnappings were made, ensuring a fresh supply of meat and entertainment for the crowds of bystanders drawn to the violent matches. 

It was all so_ sad._

How could people do something so evil to each other when there was so much beauty in the world to be shared?

"I'm sure that you all are horrified by this information and are questioning what your purpose is here." Renfield's smooth voice interrupted my horror. "Despite their best intentions, the English Army is having a difficult time finding the source of this barbaric gang. They've come close twice to capturing a live fighting ring, but both times the gang escaped, leaving behind the horrors you just read about. Even using undercover detectives and informants had the same effect, the gang escaping just moments before the police and army reinforcements arrived. Quite frankly, her highness is sick of it and I agree, this appalling activity needs to be stopped _now. _That's why I've asked you here today, to see if the heroes and heroine of London could be called to investigate this crime. The Queen has authorized me to provide you with a most generous reward if you all see fit to do so." My eyes bugged out when Renfield rattles off a single number with more zeros trailing behind than I ever heard in my life. Could somebody actually have that much money? I could completely fund my trip to the moon with that amount.

We all looked to one another in silent question, stunned speechless by the offer. Yeah, we did save London from Cardia's wackjob dad, but that was like, totally different. He was trying to take over the world, but this. This is something else. 

After a moment of silence, Sainty-G cleared his throat and spoke up. "Monsieur Renfield, while very flattering, I'm sure I speak for the others when saying that it is not quite clear how our particular skills could be of help in an investigation of this caliber."

"That is mostly the point. You are all are so different, an expert thief, a charming lady, a titled noble, a brilliant scientist, a famed soldier, and a engineer. All of you with different connection and ways that might unearth new clues in this investigation, and possibly even bring the culprits to justice." 

After that little speech from Renfield and a few more questions from both Lupin and Saint, it was pretty unanimous that we would do what we could to help bring these evildoers to justice. That's also what led Me, Fran, Lupin, and Van Helsing to investigating the warehouse after an informant of Leonhardt's hinted that a match was being tentatively held at the abandoned grain storage warehouse just outside of town. 

If they did, you sure couldn't tell if from the outside. The roof had rotted and fell in on at least half of the building, if not more, and the walls were overgrown by ivy. The few windows that the place had were broken out long ago. An abandoned junk pile was what it looked like -- I did agree with Van Helsing on that -- but Lupin insisted we go inside. Armed with gas-powered lanterns and split up into teams of two, that was how I wound up exploring with Fran. We didn't really encounter much, just a few dark hallways and empty closets, till I heard something rustling behind a door. 

"It's locked." Fran said as he twisted and jiggled the knob but with no results.

"Don't worry about. I'll get it open!" Shuffling back and forth on my feet, I rolled my shoulders in preparation for my next course of action. "Prepare yourselves, foul villains, for the wrath of MR. IMPEY!" With one extra-strength kick, the door sailed off its rusted hinges and skitters across the floor. Momentum carries me forward and I stumble forward. My foot catches on something hard and I fall forward flat on my face. 

"Impey, are you all right?" Fran whispers. The light from his lantern illuminating the surrounding area to show several unmarked wooden crates. 

"Yep, totally 100% ready to go find some bad guys." I flash a smile and a thumbs up at my buddy, but he doesn't seem that confident. Instead, Fran is poking around the crates. I stand up, dust off my jumpsuit, and pick up my lantern from where it had rolled a few feet away. Spreading out in a circle, we search through the room but it's empty. The gang must have already packed up and moved out, and it doesn't seem like anybody was left behind. Just this awful, noise burning stench that's smells like that time when a field mouse got caught up in the engine of my automobile and stayed there for three months... three long months of hot summer sun baking the little corpse into a new air freshener. That was one of the few times Saint and Lupin both had refused to ride in my car. "Hey, Fran. Are you sure we got the right place? Cause this one sure is empty even if it smells like death."

Fran pops out from around a stack of opened crates, holding his free hand across his nose. "I don't know, Impey. This is the address Leonhardt gave us."

"Hmph, maybe Lupin and Van are having more luck than we are." Fran ignores my grumbles and keeps searching around. I guess that's what I'll do to. Sucking in a deep breath, I head off to the left where the smell seems to be getting stronger. Lucky me. I'll probably find whatever it is that's making such an awful smell. 

The further I keep walking, the stronger the smell gets till I'm gagging for fresh air. This is one time that I wish my sense of smell wasn't vampire-strong. I'm about to give up and turn around when I hear a subtle scratching sound like broken nails against the floor. Inching forward a little more, I hold out my lantern for my light. Something silver flashes behind a couple crates, like the top of a birdcage or something. "Hey, Fran. That smell is stronger over here... Woah!"

Crouched deep in the back of the cage is a dog. A starved, beaten, blood and who-knows-what-other-kind-of-crap crusted dog. Most of her fur is gone, what remains is ridge of wheat-colored fur along her spine and a bit around the top of her head and her ears. The rest is exposed and inflamed skin. Her cage is filthy, a pile of vomit laying over in one corner of the pen and what I'm assuming is the only place she had to use for a bathroom. She's shaking, the exposed portion of her front legs trembling and pushing herself back further into the cage. Her lips curl up in a rattly growl, exposing bloodied fangs to the light, and a there is a fresh bite wound on her neck. The poor girl is abused, left for dead by people who stole her life away.

But what cuts the most is her eyes.

The area around her left eye is completely swelled shut and crusted over with dried blood, giving her face a lopsided appearance. Her right eye looks at me, the dull color of tarnished gold, but it doesn't look like she cares. Lifeless. Bleak. Like she's given up on life itself and ready to die in this cage. 

I know how she feels. I've had that look before. 

My vision caught on a small nameplate at the top of the cage. The Iselda wolf is all it said, but I know different. She's not just a wolf. She's a werewolf. Someone broken, battered, and abandoned by life, but so was I. All I needed was a helping hand and that's what she needs too. I'm going to save her if it takes every breath in my body.

"Hey, Impey. She'll be asleep for a while now if you want to go fix up a place for her." Fran's soft voice drags my thoughts back to the present, and to the slumbering werewolf on the table in front of me. At ease now, Fran moves about freely, gently bandaging her wounds without needing my help.

"Uh, yeah. I'll go do that." Fran shoots an odd glance my way as I'm backing out of the room, but I don't care. The design of a kennel already forming in my head that I could place in the grass next to my studio -- since Sainty-G refuses to let her live inside the mansion, I guess we'll both be camping outdoors till she gets to her senses again. The bright side is that my pretty little Luna can watch the greatest engineer in the world at work. This is going to be awesome! I've already got all the parts I'll need too! The playpen that I used for Sisi while he was getting used to his new leg, some wood for the roof, a couple more things to build a shelter with and we'll be all set! 

Woohoo! I'm so pumped!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Reveal

~Luna~

The next few days past by in a hazy blur, sleeping constantly only to wake when Impey brings a meal out from the mansion. Sometimes I could only eat a few bites of the soupy, meaty tasting liquid before my stomach would cramp in protest, but he never became mad, frequently saying to take as long as I needed and would just sit in my pen for hours at a time and slowly spooning the liquid out to me in tiny bites at whatever pace I need. Always patient. Always with a friendly smile.

It was sweet. Or rather, _he _was sweet. 

The other members of his troupe were slightly different. The woman called Cardia with the long curly brown hair and friendly eyes still carried the hint of a long endured sadness, as did the soft-spoken doctor who treated my wounds with gentle care. I was ashamed at my earlier reaction of trying to bite the doctor -- Fran, I believe Impey called him -- and tried to hold still as he tended to my now rapidly healing wounds. After just a few days of food and warmth, my natural quick healing abilities had returned full force. At first glance, I had mistaken the cheerful and slightly arrogant young man called Lupin who frequently accompanied Cardia for _him_, but my confusion was in vain as I quickly realized that the young man and _him_ had nothing in common besides a slightly physical resemblance. The stern blonde soldier called Van Helsing had not appeared many times after my arrival here at the mansion, but with each rare encounter, I sensed that he too had endured extreme sadness and pain but was now trying to heal. The final member of the group was the strangest of all, the courteous gentleman named Saint with the constant smile that hid many secrets. He felt both young and old at the same time, his current self tinged with the musty smell of time and leaving me very confused as to what was his true self. 

Despite the strangeness of his companions, Impey's care turned out to my advantage as my natural werewolf healing instincts returned at full power. My fur regrew as long and lush as it was before, hiding the raised patches of scars that laid on my stomach and back. What wounds I had healed rapidly, even the festered cut that bisected my eye that had made the whole area swell shut had healed, leaving only a slight silvery colored scar where the wound had been. This I could see in the reflection of my water bowl. Which then begged the question, what would it look like when I returned to human form?

Did I even want to return to human form? 

If I turned human again, that would come with too many questions about the past. Too many possibilities of being found by _him_ again.

The door to the mansion cracked open and I lifted my head up, silently watching as Impey wobbled out with a tray of food carried in his arms and whistling a cheerful tune. The delectable scent wafting through the air immediately set my jaws drooling in hunger as my tail quickly whapped against my sides while I waited patiently in my pen.

"Hey there, baby girl! Are you ready for dinner?" Impey asked as he unlatched my pen door and came inside. I sat up, ears perked to attention as the engineer placed a bowl in front of me. Small pieces of cut-up roasted chicken and freshly chopped vegetables floated in a soup of thin mashed potatoes, but even as delicious as it smelled, I could still smell the bitter tang of the vitamin powder that the doctor insisted that I take for my health, a supplement that tasted like old grass dried out beneath the sun.

As I slowly picked through my meal, Impey sat down beside the door with a bowl of his own meal, but he didn't start eating. From the corner of my eye, I could see the mischievousness gleaming in his eyes and the hand slowly approaching from behind in the direction of my head. I let the wriggling fingers nearly brush my ears before I growled deep and low.

"Aw, Luna. Don't be that way!" He flopped belly down onto the soft grass and hid his face behind his hands. "I just want to pet the most lovely wolf in all existence, is that too much to ask for someone who is the most handsome and smartest engineer in all existence?" Impey pretended to sob into the shelter of his hands.

I watched him for a moment, not entirely sure that he was faking or if I had really made him that sad, but I realized he was fine when the edges of his lips curled up in a smile and one eye peeped from between his folded fingers to see if I was watching.

Then I ignored him, choosing to focus on my own dinner instead. 

After another few moments, Impey followed my example and began eating his own dinner, still sitting uncomfortably close but silent... for now. 

After the last delicious bit had vanished from the bowl and my tongue lapped around the edge, I settled back into the grass with my stomach comfortably full and warm, my eyes beginning to get drowsy as I stared up at the full moon in wonder. How many times had I wished to see this sight again? 100? 1,000? It was probably more. 

Full and round, the moon above shown bright with silver light like a mirror, reflecting back all the hopes and dreams of those who watched down below. 

I sighed, laying my head down on my feet. The moon was still as unchanged as if I had still been gazing up at it from home. For a moment, I could almost believe I was sitting on top of the hill, my knees tucked up to my chest and my hair hanging loose in the wind. If I concentrated hard, I could here the phantom voices of my sister and brother faintly playing in the distance. The chisel of my father's blades against wood as he carved some new object and my mother delicious stew cooking on the stove. A sharp pang of longing struck my heart like a thorn, digging into the surrounding flesh to create a large open sore that would never heal completely, but would only scar over with time.

"The moon sure is beautiful, isn't it? It's one of my favorite things in the whole world. That's why I have this dream that I want to go to the moon, to prove that science is full of hopes and dreams that just haven't been accomplished yet."

I turned to see Impey shuffling closer across the grass to sit cross-legged beside me, yet far enough away that he wasn't touching my body. His face was wistful as he gazed up at the moon above, a light of hope sparkling in his eyes that burned bright with the foundation of his belief. "Just so you know, I didn't always have that dream. For a long time, I just drifted along. My parents died when I was just a little kid, so little that I can't even really remember them. It was just me and my little sister Eva scratching out a life while various relatives passed us around. My sis was eventually taking by a stuffy old aunt who lived alone in a mansion somewhere in Wales, but she didn't want me, just Eva. I spent the next few years hanging out on the outskirts of our village, taking the leftovers thrown out by the other families and just generally existing because I had nothing else to do or nowhere to go. " A look of great sadness passed across his features, one that dimmed the happy light that always seemed to follow him around and I felt my heart twist in sympathy. 

Impey's gaze dropped to my face and he smiled softly. "It was okay though, I made it through with the help of my friend, the old man. He was the one who helped me learn about how machines and engines work, showing me the beauty of science and how it can be used for everyday life. That's how I part of my dream got started. I want to go to the moon and show everyone that science is not something to be feared, but loved and respected."

As I listened to the soft tones of his voice, I found myself become so sleepy despite how I was forcing myself to listen. His fingers brushed softly through the fur at the base of my ears and I shivered despite my sleepy state. Even in this form, some places had not lost their sensitivity. Gradually I could stem the flow no longer and started drifting off to comfortable sleep.

~~~~~

"Come on, my pretty little machine. You can work for me, I just know it!" Impey hissed from his position beneath the non-working automobile's front half. Various sounds of clanking and tinkering mixed with the engineer's muffled curses as he tried -- and so far failed -- to get the count's -- or was it Impey's? -- automobile to function after the engine had erupted into a great cloud of steam. 

I laid on the soft green grass in the shade of his studio, silently observing Impey's actions with pricked ears and my head resting on my crossed front paws. He had been at this for quite a while, at least since mid-morning, and now the sun had started to sink down into the horizon. A beautiful and warm summer's afternoon for all to enjoy, if you were not Impey that is. 

"Where is it?" I saw a pair of black oil stained fingers emerge from beneath the automobile and scrabble about spider-like in the grass, evidently searching for the golden wrench that was just beyond his reach. 

I heaved myself to my feet, streaching my front legs forward in a long stretch that allow my spine to pop. With the knots in my muscles now soothed from the stiffness of laying on the ground, I reached forward and picked up the wrench carefully in my teeth. The metal was cold to my tongue and tasted bitter, so I wasted no time in laying it just beside Impey's arm. "Thanks, babe! I owe you one!" A brilliant emerald green eye winked from beneath the glistening metallic inner workings of the motor. My tail wagged side to side and my pink tongue lolled out just a bit as I settled down in the grass close to wheel. That is, till a round red object rolled to a stop at my back foot.

A peculiar little creature immediately came in search of the object. A dog, or at least I think it was, in a top hat and bow tie, his mechanical leg shining brightly in the sun. He was a cute little fellow, reminding me of some of the dogs I saw the farmers using to herd sheep and cattle before. Following close behind the wriggling little creature was a boy with golden eyes and blonde hair. The smell of vampire was increasingly strong on this one and I recoiled slightly as I saw the pendant hanging around his neck. He was a pure-blooded vampire, an evil creature of the night that would drain anyone of their life's essence in a mere moment. 

"What's up, Luna? Something spook you?" Impey crawled out from beneath the automobile to see what had sent me to my feet. "Oh, hey there Delly. What's up?"

"Impudent fool! I told you not to call me that! My name is Delacroix II, the king of all vampires." The boy toted proudly, comically puffing out his chest as he spoke. At his feet, the dog woofed softly, his brown eyes fixed completely on the red ball at my feet. I nudged the ball with my snout, the item gently rolling to its owner who eagerly snapped it up in his gleaming jaws. "I came to see the ferocious beast that Van Helsing said you captured. A wolf, was it?" The boy, Delacroix, sniffed as he watched his canine companion prance away with the toy. "I suppose this puny creature is the beast that he spoke of."

My nose filled with Delacroix's scent as he leaned over my body while I crouched in the grass. My tail wrapped around my legs and I couldn't stop my lips from curling at the memory of one who carried a scent so like his who tried to murder me. 

"Hey! How dare you insult a beautiful lady that is a vision of pure angelic bliss by calling her a puny creature!" Impey shouted rather loudly and slung his lanky arms around my shoulders, pulling me against his body while he sobbed tears into my neck. "I'm so sorry, baby. Don't listen to him. You're not puny at all! You're beautiful and strong and so smart that I-"

"Barbicane, shut up!"

I wriggled out of Impey's grasp and slunk to the side of the automobile as the imposing figure of Van Helsing crossed the lawn in long, easy strides to come and stand beside the boy king. "Actually, Adviser Renfield thought it would be wise for Delacroix to stay hidden here at the mansion instead of pursuing his normal activities till we have more information about the kidnappings. The consequences would be unimaginable if the king of vampires became a victim of the savage brutally as well."

"Yeah, that would be bad." Impey nodded as he stood up and dusted his pants off. There was no sign of the tears he had so recently shed on his happily smiling face. "Hey, Van. Saint told me to tell you that the thing you wanted is inside. Come on, I'll go get it for you. I'll be back in just a minute babe."

With that said, I watched the three figures depart for the inside of the mansion before I settled back down in the grass. The sunshine was so warm against my fur that I began to doze off almost immediately.

~~~~~

Impey returned later to continue his work on the automobile while I watched from the shadows. Despite the peaceful air of the now darkened night, complete with the quiet hum of insects buzzing about on their journey, a strange restlessness rolled through my body. I constantly shifted about, the grass crunching underneath my feet as I stood up and sniffed the breeze. Something was coming. Something dark and vicious.

"What's up, Luna baby?" Impey raised up from where he had been bent over the hood of the automobile and wiped his oily hands on a rag. I growled, using my snout to point towards the woods where I could faintly here footsteps rushing towards our location. Recognition dawned in his eyes as he heard the approaching footsteps as well. "Hey, who's out there?"

Black robed men emerged from the trees like silent shadows in the night, their faces completely obliterated by the swath of black cloth stretched across their features from the nose down, leaving only the portion of their eyes exposed. At their sides hung silver daggers, suspended by the thick leather belt around their waists.

"Get them." The biggest of the men ordered his companions in a raspy whisper. The black clothed men surged forward like the tide, silver blades bared and ready to accomplish their bloody purpose.

I arched my back and bared my fangs in a deep, rumbling growl that vibrated the very bones of my chest, my shaggy fur raising up into spikes along my spine. I knew these people, the solid black uniform that looked like it would befit a death-dealing Grim Reaper. I saw that uniform every day for five years posted outside the fighting rings. Saw that uniform murder my family in cold blood. These are his men. His special elites that he reserves only for the most special of cases. 

"I don't know who you are or what you want, but just so you know, I feel responsible that I should give you a warning since you felt the need to scare my lovely lady Luna here . I'm the incredible Mr. Impey and my strength is like, super strong. Much stronger than any of you low-lifes. So please feel free to retreat now or prepare for a pummeling you'll never forget." Impey smiles with determination while shuffling from foot to foot, his lean, lanky frame prepared for a fight as the masked men cautiously circle him. A second later, Impey launches into a series of spinning kicks that sends the men flying. Over and over, he glides around with inhumane speed, the dance like motions made lethal by the flicking kicks that rapidly disarmed his opponents.

I was so lost in watching his awe-inspiring movements that I failed to notice two of the masked men sneaking up behind me. It was only when a twig crunched under a foot that I whirled around with my jaws at the ready. One was inching towards a table where a small box-like device sat, and the other jabbed his blade in my direction. I dodged instantly, my werewolf speed aiding my movements as I leaped at the sneaking ones back.My paws landed square on the masked man's shoulders and I sank my claws in, my added weight pushing him forward into the table while I scratched and bit at his back. The other man, surprised by my sudden agility, snatched the device and started to run for the trees when Impey noticed him.

"Hey, you bastard! Don't touch that!" Impey snatched his device from the hands of the masked man before launching another spinning kick that sent his opponent flying away. "Mr. Impey's incredible devices are reserved for his friends only, no thugs allowed."

"Stupid fool!" The leader growled, blocked Impey's blow and aimed a punch straight for his stomach. Instead of warm flesh, his fist met empty air as the vampire jumped across the yard.

"Stay right here, my little beauty." He lovingly patted the hunk of machinery as he stashed on the desk inside his studio before returning to battle. 

I snapped my jaws deep into the flesh of the man as warm bitter blood flood flooded my mouth, only to rip them free a moment later as I felt myself suddenly being lifted by the scruff of my neck. I twisted and snapped, grazing my captor's leg with my teeth but it wasn't enough. He smashed my face into the dirt, rendering me useless in the fight.

That's when I saw it.

One of the men pulled out a thin blade from his pocket and circled around behind Impey's back, the vampire was unaware that danger lurked so closely behind while he flipped his current opponent on his back. I tried to warn Impey, but the whine died in my throat as the silent man above shook my scruff roughly. Impey turned at the sound, but it wasn't quick enough to avoid the swing of the shining blade. I watched in horror as the blade parted through the skin at the side of his throat as easily as slicing through warm butter, leaving behind a burst of scarlet red that glowed so bright in the moonlight. Impey hissed in pain, clapping a hand across his leaking wound as he stumbled off balance, straight into the fist of one of the other men.

I heard the crunch of flesh against bone, the snap of bones breaking, and Impey fell to the ground and quickly became pinned by two of the masked men holding his shoulders. Enraged, I pushed against the set of hands holding me down. My feet clawed at the ground for freedom while I bucked my back up and tried to dislodge his weight but the man would not be moved. "You're not going anywhere." His rancid breath breathed in my ear as he shoved my face down into the dirt again. 

The more I clawed at the ground, the more useless the action became. I needed hands that could punch and grab! Feet and legs that could kick and shove! I needed my human body again.

"Get the device!" The leader of the men who held Impey down ordered the smallest member of their group to grab Impey's invention off the table of his workshop. The glittering gears and inner workings of the half finished device looked out of place in the black-gloved hands of the thief. 

"Don't you dare- Umph!" Impey's further statement was cut off by a foul smelling white cloth being capped over his mouth. The acidic tang was one that I remembered well, for it had been used on me so many times. 

Chloroform.

I saw the light fading from Impey's emerald eyes as the drug's effects took hold, his failing limbs going weak as he was rapidly losing his strength to fight. I knew what they were doing, where they would take him to that place of blood, violence, and endless hunger where the only escape was death. 

I refused to let it happen again. Not to another living soul. Not to my Impey. 

I felt it come like fire ripping through my veins. The magic of the change flaring across my skin, the fur and claws burning away in a shower of white light to leave behind pale skin and lean muscle. My bones popped and clicked as they shifted from the four-footed form of the wolf to the upright form of the human. The masked man atop my back screamed in fright as I lifted him into the air and flung him as far as my strength would allow. My wolf ears flicked as I caught the lifeless thud in the distance, only to be quickly drowned out by the horrified mutterings of his companions.

"What the hell? You're supposed to be dead?" I pivoted slowly towards the speaker, letting the full effect of the glowing moonlight play on my skin. I could see my reflection in their horror-widened eyes and I knew what they saw. A woman bare of all clothing with pale skin glowing under the moonlight and golden eyes blazing with energy from her recent change, the breeze tossing the ends of her shoulder length hair like a lover's kiss as the tips of her wolf ears flickered about on the top of her head. A long wolf's tail flowed from her spine and the matching fur bristled with anger. 

Beautiful. Deadly. A Monster. I was a monster of the night. One of the legends that people whispered about in fear and fled for their lives.

Both of the standing men reached for their blades and started forward, but I was ready for their attack. The combat movements were instinctual after being ingrained in my thoughts for so long, triggered only by my advancing opponents. I gracefully dodged and spun as they charged past, forcefully slamming my elbows into their ribcage while my tail whipped back and forth against their hands, the blades falling from their numbed fingers while the air left their lungs in a whoosh. I followed the maneuver with a lightening fast uppercut to the chin that sent them falling to the ground without a sound. The smallest man who held Impey's invention whimpered in fear before fleeing into the forest, shortly followed by the one holding Impey's left side down.

"You cowards! Get back here and finish the job!" The last remaining masked man called to his companions, but it was useless. He was alone. "Fine! I'll just take you with me. No doubt the boss will be glad to have his prize-winner back again." 

I slammed my hand against his throat, knocking him off of Impey and onto his back in the grass. "Where is he? Where is Remus?" I snarled, my ears flattening along my skull as I bared my fangs in the most ferocious expression I could muster. My voice was low and raspy, gone completely hoarse after so long without use.

Despite the tips of my nails digging into his skin, he laughed in my face. "Don't worry, the boss will find you when you least expect it." His bloodshot eyes glittered with madness as he suddenly went limp in my grip and the smell of blood flooded my senses. I felt a bitter sickness began to grow in my stomach as I glanced down and immediately released the now lifeless body to land in the growing pool of blood leaking from his thigh. The masked man had somehow managed to spear a smaller silver blade right into the deadliest portion of his entire thigh and sever the artery completely, thus insuring that death would follow only moments away. 

I wrapped my arms around my chest and shivered as a fine sheen of chills raised across my skin, the gentle night breeze suddenly seeming much colder than before or maybe it was just the aftereffects as I watched the pool of scarlet blood cool in the grass.My right ear twisted and I caught a light snuffling sound almost like a snore. I padded through the grass on silent bare feet, cautiously approaching Impey where he still laid in the grass. 

His red hair had fell over his face like a shield, but I could tell by the increase in grumbling moans that he was beginning to wake up. I knelt down beside him and cautiously stretched out a hand, one bloodstained finger lightly poking at his shoulder while I whispered, "Impey. Are you alright?"

"Hmm... Almonds, gotta keep Van out of the almonds! He'll poison us all!" Impey groggly muttered as his rolled to his side. Much to my relief, he seemed to be okay. The bloody wound at his neck already closing with the aid of his vampire given healing with only the stain of red dripping down his neck and shoulder as evidence that he had ever come so close to harm. Giving one last series of incomprehensible mumbles about Van Helsing, cyanide, and almonds, he rolled up to sit crossed legged beside me, his foggy emerald eyes focusing with abrupt sharpness as they swept over my figure. 

My self-consciousness kicked in immediately and I folded my arms and tail across my vital parts while my cheeks flushed a vibrant red that was matched only by the shade that bloomed across his in return. "Oh my god, you're so beautiful. I knew you would be gorgeous but I didn't think- Oops! Sorry! I'm sorry! My brain is melting from the vision of pure beauty that's before me!" Impey babbled while his eyes bounced around to try and find a safe subject to land on that was not my body while he shrugged off the jacket portion of his orange jumpsuit. "Here you go." he muttered while offering me the jacket which I pulled on gratefully.

"Impey! Are you okay!" I heard a voice call from the house, Lupin's voice, I believed it was, and was quickly followed by the sound of many footsteps rapidly approaching. A bolt of fear sizzled through my thoughts, I couldn't let them see me like this, and I turned to run into the woods when something caught my hand.

"Hey, Luna! Don't go! You can stay with us please!" Impey begged, his bloody fingers interlaced with mine. "I promise, nobody will hurt you."

I shot a glance towards the approaching figures but I just couldn't do it. I knew what they would see, a bloody monster who had injured their friend. "I'm sorry. Impey." I whispered before tugging my hand free and darting off into the woods as fast as my speed would carry me. His calls of my name faded on the wind.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Affereffects

~Impey~

At first, I thought I was trying to prevent Van Helsing from poisoning us all with a cake made from bitter almonds, but then the vision vanished. My head throbbing like an egg about to split open while this one single sensation poked my arm. I tried to fight it, but I couldn't.

Then I heard my name whispered in the sweetest voice imaginable.

"Impey, are you alright?"

"Almonds, gotta keep Van out of the almonds! He'll poison us all!" I tried to warn the blurry figure at my side, the bruises along my back aching in protest as I tried to roll up from the soft grass below. My head was throbbing so bad I thought it would split open, a sickeningly sweet smell lingering in my nose that made me want to gag with every breath. Added to the mix was how my neck burned like it was on fire and then I remembered what was going on. I pushed myself up to sit on my knees, giving my head a little shake to clear the last remnants of the hazy fog that clouded my vision. 

Whoa! Did I really die and go to heaven? There was this totally gorgeous woman knelt down beside me! 

I couldn't help but stare at those big golden eyes glowing with concern and a slight hint of fear before they shifted away down towards the ground, a blooming scarlet blush quickly appearing on the apples of her cheeks while two slender arms folded around her chest along with a long lusciously furred tail wrapping around her waist. Twin furry ears lying flat along the tangled nest of her hair that flowed down to her shoulders, and my eyes drifted back to her plump lips where the tip of a white fang nervously tugged along the lower edge of her lower lip.

At first I started to ask her why one as lovely as she was could be so shy, and then the gears in my brain clicked together what some of my brain hadn't fully processed. She looked like Luna, except in human form ya know, and she was totally bare. Like birthday suit bare.

"Oh my god, you're so beautiful. I knew you would be gorgeous but I didn't think- Oops! Sorry! I'm sorry! My brain is melting from the vision of pure beauty that's before me!" I jabbered, my tongue taking a life of its own while I tried to find some safe subject for my eyes to land on, but I kept being drawn back like she was magic even though I didn't want to make her more uncomfortable than she already was. I shrugged off my orange jacket, handing it to her with still shaky hands. "Here you go."

She silently accepted it with a nod of thanks. the orange fabric looking slightly dull against the glimmer of her pale skin in the moonlight. 

"Impey! Are you okay!" I heard Lupin call along with the distinct rapid footsteps of my friends. I turned to look and caught a glimpse of all my buddies as they came charging out of the house. At my side, Luna's already pale skin turned a pure ghostly white as her already big golden eyes widened even further in fear. I lunged for her hand as she scrambled to her feet, wrapping my own bloody fingers around her warmer but still bloodstained slender ones. Her skin was so warm, like it was burning with pure energy just waiting to be unleashed, and I instantly felt what fogginess remained in my brain disappear with just that moment of her touch.

"Hey, Luna! Don't go! You can stay with us please!" I begged her, trying to reassure her with my best smile. "I promise, nobody will hurt you." 

For just a moment, she hesitated. A glimmer of doubt flashing quick in her eyes before it was replaced with blinding fear. "I'm sorry. Impey." She whispered and then she was gone, a pale blur against the night darkness.   
"Luna! Luna come back!" I yelped, trying to scramble up on my feet but something in my legs didn't want to work right so I fell back right on my rump. 

"Impey, hold still. You're bleeding." Fran's soft but commanding tone took my attention away from where the dark forest had seemingly swallowed up my little heroine. Twin gloved fingers prodded my neck right where the burning was its most intense and I hissed in sudden shock at the flaring bolts of pain that traveled up my neck from the freshly healing site. 

"Easy, Fran. A little tender here." I glared through one squinted eye at my friend and clapped a hand over my neck. Fran wasn't that easy to discourage and I recognized that methodical gleam in his eyes that told me he was fully in Dr. Frankenstein mode.

"Is Impey alright, Fran?" Cardia's gentle voice came floating on the breeze as she followed closely behind a casually suspicious Lupin who had his cane in hand. Her gorgeous green eyes glittered with concern for myself and I shot her a thumbs up and a wink.

"Nothing can beat Mr. Impey's awesomeness when he's been powered up with true love!"

"Fran, perhaps you should take a look at his head. It sounds like Impey's taking quite the blow and may have a concussion." Lupin smirked.

"I am a little concerned about the nature of Impey's cut as it does look like the incision was made with silver, and his pupils are a little less reactive than I would like, which indicates his recovering status from a drug that was most likely chloroform, but he otherwise appears fine." Fran tapped a finger against his chin in thought as he straightened up and gazed around at the limp bodies. "Although I am wondering just exactly how you managed to dispatch all these people under the influence of a drug, Impey?"

A reply had already formed on my tongue when Mr. Grumpy Four Eyes answered for me. "It's easy. He didn't" The soldier gave a rough kick to the body of one of the prone goons to roll him over, exposing the slash marks of sharp tipped nails in the loose black fabric over his chest. Van Helsing knelt down beside the man and shook him roughly, aiming to wake up the unconscious man but he refused to be lifted out of his sleeping haze. "Whoever knocked these men out made sure that they would stay unconscious for some time. That, plus the expertise that landed these blows correctly tells me that this person has a history of combat experience and knows exactly how to safely dispatch a person. Something that Barbicane lacks in his combat skills."

"Actually Van Helsing, I have you know that my lovely Luna kicked those goons asses, not me! She's awesome!"

Van Helsing shot me a strange glance as he considered the possibilities. "You mean she's actually transformed back to a human and then defeated these men? That's surprising as most werewolves prefer to fight in their lupine form." He wandered over to where the dead one laid peacefully in the grass surrounded by a pool of his own blood. "There is something strange about this that I don't like at all. How did they know that Delacroix was here? And why did they target Barbicane as a potential target? He's much too whiny to safely be considered a potential use in their fighting rings. This was as a carefully conditioned plan that somehow went astray."

"They stole one of my inventions too! The black one." I chimed in.

Cardia gasped, her delicate doll-like hand coming up to shield her open lips. "You mean the one you had been working so hard on? Oh, Impey. I'm so sorry."

I shrugged. "It's okay. Its still in the beginning stages so it was pretty much useless anyway." Yeah, I was disappointed that my device had been stolen, but it wasn't like it was totally operational anyway. Since I still hadn't been able to find the remains of the Old man's Gravity Alleviator device in the wreckage of the Nautilus from eight months ago when Cardia's dad, Finis, and Nemo decided to try and take over the world, I decided to try and build my own replica of the device from memory. So far it hadn't turned out too well, pretty much being a barely functioning shell that could levitate a salt shaker for about five seconds before it just sputtered out like an engine running out of steam. I don't know why those goons would have wanted it though?

A sudden lone howl broke through my thoughts as a shiver slithered up my spine, reminding me of the goal that had originally presented itself in my mind. "I've got to go look for Luna, guys. I'll be back in a little while." I started to jog off. 

"Impey, you should stay here till you're fully recovered from the chloroform." Fran caught my arm but I shrugged him off. I'd already wasted too much time by standing here. What if my little wolf baby was injured, or even worse, what if she got hypothermia? That's what Fran said happened if you ran around bare when it was hot, I think. Or maybe that was if you were outside too long in the cold? Whatever, I just couldn't stand it if she got sick just because of me. 

I smiled over my shoulder and threw my buddy a wink. "Don't worry about me, Fran. I'm good to- Aw, shit." I rubbed my palm over the now tender spot on the top of my head where I ran into a tree branch, a thick one at that. "I'll be back before you even know I'm gone!" Lupin muttered something directly in Cardia's ear, the results being of her chirpy giggles falling freely from those beautifully kissable lips, but I couldn't tell what he said as he made sure to keep his hand shaded over his mouth. Even with Mr. Impey's super powerful vampire hearing, it was still just a low intelligible mumble. Whatever, I'll catch up with him later.

I took off at an easy stride, not entirely a full vampire speed run but faster than a human could move, and followed the trail of slightly crushed grass and the slightly mushed trees that went along in a winding path through the woods. Her trail was pretty easy to follow as she kept a straight path pretty much till we circled around to reach the flatland behind the mansion. I could still smell a hint of her scent just barely tinged with blood on the breeze, but all I could see was nothing but a sea of softly wavering grass as far as I could see.

"Luna!" I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Luna, you okay?" 

I heard the smallest of whimpers come from just ahead, almost missing it for the soft swoosh of the breeze, but it was there. A heartbreakingly sad sound that already had tears forming in my eyes just from hearing it. My legs kicked into gear, rushing forward to find the source of the sound while my head conjured up the possibilities of her being hurt from before and increased them tenfold. What if one of those goons had hurt her and left her for dead? If they did anything at all to hurt her, even if it was just a broken nail, then they were going to find Mr. Impey's fist embedded in their face!

It was almost like a dream when I found her laying in the grass on her left side, my jacket pulled askew over her lady parts and held in place with one arm while her right hand kneaded the grass beneath her red stained fingertips. A troubled frown pulled at the edges of her plump lips and creased her brow into a most unbecoming frown, that tiny whimper coming again from her throat while her long furred tail flicked with nerves from behind her. 

"Luna, you okay?" I whispered softly as I knelt down beside her, not wanting to startle her into any more distress than what she currently had. She whimpered again, almost like she was in pain and shivered in the night air. My hand raised almost of its own action, my fingertips gliding just over the surface of cheek to push back some of the strands of her hair that had stuck to her skin. She shivered violently under my touch and I briefly wondered if she was cold or if it was fear from whatever nightmare was running through her head. Probably the last one because underneath the shield of her eyelids, a flickering motion whipped back and forth like Sisi's head when he was following me around the kitchen when I was cooking. Poor thing, she was probably exhausted after all the excitement. I should probably take her back to Fran and make sure that she was alright.

Sliding my hands under her shoulders and at the bend of her long legs, her limp body rolled slightly in my arms as I tried to lift her up, snuggling lightly against my chest while her hand came to grip the white fabric of my top when I felt my fingers graze over something more than just her skin. Thick welts and clawmarks were carved into the skin of her back from her shoulders all the way down to the base of her spine and her tail, now healed over into ridges of hardened scars that crisscrossed her skin like silver ribbons. A few thinner ones peeked out around the base of her neck beneath her hair and there was a few scattered across her legs and ankles as well. I don't get truly angry easily. I mean, I do get a little inflamed at times and I have been called cocky in the past -- usually by Van Helsing or Lupin -- but this made me angry. The last time I was this angry was when Cardia told us about her past, and that was still a different level of anger. I didn't care what they did with my device, but I couldn't let them hurt her like this again.

Luna whimpered again and snuggled deeper against my body, her shivers growing in strength till her whole body was vibrating, easily breaking me out of my thoughts. I lifted her up fully and we started back towards the mansion where I could see just the tips of everybody's heads bobbing around, even Saint's and Delly's now that the goons were dealt with. 

Something tells me that tonight's events and Luna's shift back to human was just the start of a bunch of things to come.


	5. Chapter Five - The First Morning

~Luna~

_Blood. There was so much blood. On hands, on claws. Staining the grass and the silver blades flashing in the moonlight._

_"Get them all! Don't let a single one escape!"_

_"Please! You've got to get up!" I coughed, the billowing smoke choking the air from my lungs as I tried in vain to shake life into the small bloodstained form in the grass. No matter how much I tried, Syrena wouldn't be roused. Her tattered blonde curls were matted with dirt and leaking blood stained the faintly pink fabric of her dress an ugly rust color, her body limp and lifeless just like the doll she still held in her hands. Her lifeless hands._

_"Luna, run!" I heard my father howl, his fangs and grizzled elongated muzzle sharping the words into raspy growls as he swung his wooden staff against the sword bearing soldiers with a strength that proved his status as Alpha despite his age. My brother Fenris was fighting at his side, russet fur and gleaming amber eyes a blur as his wolf form charged between the darkened uniforms of the invading soldiers and slashed as many as he could. Many of our village had already fallen, the limp bodies of those in both wolf and mortal forms trampled beneath the feet of the beaked masked invaders. I tried again to get Syrena to rise, my nails digging into her cold flesh as I choked back sobs of her name._

_"This is your fault, you know. You shouldn't have been so useless and this wouldn't have happened." My right ear flicked towards the source of the charmingly cultured voice, a shiver rising on my skin as two gloved fingers trailed over the exposed skin of my shoulder from where my blouse had split in an almost loving gesture. Almost. I didn't even need to turn, I could feel his form circling around my back like a vulture approaching its deceased prey._

_"Remus, why? Why did you betray us like this? Why did you betray me?" I sobbed, my shoulders heaving with the effort as I slung back my hair and stared into those icy gold depths that glittered worse than the coldest ice. Tall and lean, with flawless pale skin and a noble's good looks. Based on the elegant craft of his black suit and top hat, he could have been out for a stroll among the elite of London's society rather than supervising the slaughter of an innocent pack of werewolves._

_He knelt in front of me, carelessly planting his foot on my sister's abdomen like she was nothing more than a rug. Those two fingers slid underneath my chin, the leather cool against my fevered skin. "Oh, but darling. I never betrayed you. I lied right from the very beginning." Remus chuckled like it was some sort of huge joke, a smile stretching across his face that had sent my heart a flutter right from the start even though now it meant nothing more than a cruel smirk._

_I heard the screams in my ears of the last ones still standing as they fell._

_I had nothing left to lose._

_I swung forward, my nails shifting for the claws of the wolf as they sank deep into warm flesh, the unmistakable feeling of skin and muscle parting beneath my fingertips one I wouldn't soon forget and neither would he. Remus screamed not unlike my family had as they fell beneath the blades of his comrades from Twilight, a squadron of the beaked masked agents running to his aid while a shorter blonde haired figure lingered in the distance._

_I was going to die this night, but I was going to take him with me._

I jolted from the bed, my chest heaving with every strangled breath while my heart banged painfully against my ribs. My hands clutched desperately at the thin fabric of my nightdress and threatened to tear holes in the soft blankets.

The first rays of the morning sunlight greeted my wide stretched eyes with a pleasant warmth, producing intricate patterns scattered across the floor from where they streamed through the mansion's windowpanes.

The mansion. This was Saint Germain's mansion.

As the murky haze of long buried memories faded away, replaced by the subtle trickle of last night's events and I recalled just what had happened. A blush burned hot and crimson across my cheeks as the memory of not just the attack but appearing before Impey nude made me want to hide in this bed forever. Except I was hungry, terribly so actually. The energy required to shift back and forth between forms always left me starving for food, one of the many reasons why I had to avoid returning to human form for so long as long as I was under _his_ control. 

Perhaps I could sneak down to the kitchen for a quick bite before the other's woke up, but before I slipped one foot to the floor, another question quickly arose in my mind. How did I get dressed in a nightgown anyway? The last thing I remembered was falling to the ground in a field of grass unless... No... please let it not be Impey who found me. Now I really did want to stay in this bed for the rest of my life.

My stomach gurgled loudly, a terrible sound like my insides were on the verge of eating one another. I sighed, scrubbing one hand through the sleep and sweat matted strands of my hair. The inevitable could never be avoided for long, I suppose. I slid free from the bed, the rumpled edges of my nightgown that had worked itself up to my hips falling free as I stood fully straight. I had been about to make my way to the en-suite bathroom when something hanging on the back of the door caught my attention. An outfit of a brilliantly colored emerald blouse, a tan leather corset adorned with tiny gear shaped golden buttons running down the front, and a darker chocolate colored leather skirt that would end at my knees hung suspended from a clotheshanger on the door. Pinned to the waist of the skirt was a grey leather belt that was adorned with a matching gear decorative button as the ones on the corset. Sitting off to the side of the door was a pair of thick brown leather boots topped with a pair of tan stockings in the same shade as the vest.

I allowed myself a moment to ghost my hands over the exquisite fabric before I gently removed it from it's hanger and placed it over my arm, picking up the boots as well as I ventured into the bathroom for a little clean up. The hot water radiating out of the shower felt wonderful against my stiff muscles, trickling down the from the top of my head to the soles of my feet where it turned a light grey from the collected dirt and dried blood on my form. Whoever had placed me in the nightgown before had tried to sponge off the worst of the mess, but there was still a few private areas that it had collected in that required a vigorous scrubbing like my hair and my tail. The thick tresses and fur matted deep down to the bone with the dried mess that required the use of my most efficient strokes to untangle the matted hunks of fur that had knotted down deep in my tail.

Once I was fully cleaned and flushed as red as a lobster, I stepped out of the shower and toweled myself off, removing every single water droplet I could reach from my now steam reddened skin with a pass of the fluffy towel, lingering particularly over the slightly wavy strands of my hair and the thick fur of my tail to remove any additional moisture that had a tendency to gather. Now dry, I slipped on the blouse first, the soft silk easily slipping on like water enveloping my skin and felt just as smooth. The leather of the skirt and vest was just as smooth, crinkling only slightly as I pulled it into place. I was mentally thanking whoever had the foresight to provide me with the matching stockings to the outfit as I simply hated the long dresses and gowns that were normally considered fashions for ladies my age. I had never liked the way a long dress had felt, it was too confining. You couldn't run, or jump, or even fight if need be, there was simply too much fabric in the way.

Maybe I was still a little wild at heart.

With a final tug to my boots and the click of the buckle around my waist, I cautiously peeped out from the relative safety of my room. The hallway beyond was empty, completely devoid of all life except for one sinfully enchanting smell. Light and fruity, the smell playful tickled my senses like a child with a feather while I struggled to place a mental finger on the exact source. Oranges... and Cranberries with a bit of a tang from something else. Could it be Scones?

My stomach gave a rumbling summons of hunger once again and I crept forward on silently feet, always wary for the first hint of danger. Not a soul was to be found till I reached the kitchen, the slightly tangy scent at it's strongest from where a set of delicate hands kneaded a firm lump of dried cranberry speckled dough into submission. Cheery vivid teal colored eyes flashed up upon my arrival, Cardia's face crinkling up into a smile that highlighted the smear of flour running down her left cheek. "Good morning Luna! How are you feeling?"

"Fine, just a little sore." I lingered in the doorway while my eyes darted back and forth to ensure that there wasn't any hidden opponents lurking in behind the doors. Still no hidden threats that I could detect. I wonder if that was a good thing or a bad one? "How are you?"

She sighed, giving the lump of dough another punch with her knuckles. "I'm fine, really. I had wanted to try out one of Impey's recipes for scones myself and surprise everyone with breakfast, and it's almost done. I wasn't expecting to make such a mess of the kitchen though." She directed a self conscious glance around what I assumed would be a normally pristine kitchen, but now had a coating of fine white flour cloaking every available surface like the finest of snows had fallen indoors. "Would you mind flipping the page for me?" She inclined her head towards a small cookbook covered in dried food blobs of every shade imaginable and dusted with the white flour resting on a makeshift holder of two canister jars currently just beyond the reach of her dough laden fingers.

"Sure," I said, cautiously stepping across the room to perform her request. 

Just as my fingers flipped the page to the next set, the kitchen door came flying open as a large milk can came bumping in the door. The large metal container was held tight in a familiar pair of lanky arms that juggled the weighted burden along with a woven bag of fresh fruit. With another heave, the rest of Impey made an appearance as he stumbled in the door. "Hey, Cardia! That's smells so good! I can't wait to try them out." he shot off a flirtatious grin towards the chocolate curled beauty before his eyes slid over to mine, his lips spreading upwards in joyous grin as he placed the fragile fruit aside on the counter and began to advance towards me.

My ears twisted back to lay flat alongside my head, my hands raising by themselves to ward off the potential hug I knew was coming. "My sweetest of heroes is finally awake and now I can properly shower her with my love and thanks!" He yelled quite happily as he came charging forward. I pushed myself aside as he ran towards me with outstretched arms, completely dodging his affectionate embrace while he continued on past, running face first into the door and was instantly smacked against the wall as said door opened to reveal a very exhausted looking Fran stepped into the room.

"Good morning- Oh, Impey! I'm sorry. Why were you standing behind the door? That's a good way to get hurt." The gentle doctor bent down to tend to the lump that was Impey as he slid down the wall like a red and orange blob. I stifled a chuckle under my hand and I saw Cardia do the same as she slid the tray of her unbaked scones in the oven. 

I heard the stride of strong footsteps approaching and my gaze darted up to see the imposing Van Helsing coming in to the kitchen followed closely by Lupin. "Barbicane, don't litter the floor." Van Helsing stepped over Impey completely in one large stride, the morning paper held in his hand as he made his way to the dining table in the adjacent room. I didn't miss the suspicious glare he tossed my way, those violet eyes glittering as hard as glass as he registered my presence in conjunction to his friends and anticipating any possible threat I might pose. 

I was correct in my earlier assessment. He was a very well trained soldier indeed.

"It is wonderful that you decided to join us for breakfast, Miss Luna." I nearly jumped out of my skin as a slender pale haired phantom silently appeared behind my back. Saint Germain. A soft smile lent itself to his lips as he observed my figure clad in the new clothing I had found in my room. "I am also thrilled that my gift suits you so well. You look lovely my dear."

"I- Uh... Thank you!" I blundered over my clumsy tongue, my cheeks flushing pure red as I hurriedly moved aside to avoid a collision with Fran who was carrying two jars of Cinnamon and Allspice Pear Butter, followed closely by Lupin who had been recruited by Cardia into carrying a bowl of creamy yellow Swiss Eggs to the table. "I wasn't sure who to thank for the lovely gifts but I greatly appreciate them." 

"Hey! No flirting with Luna!" Impey, now fully recovered from his unfortunate encounter with the door, pouted as he shielded me from Saint sight by standing in front of me with his arms spread wide. 

"You act as though you weren't just flirting with her earlier." Lupin remarked wryly as he took a seat at the table, exchanging sheets of the morning paper with Van Helsing. Cardia giggled as she followed shortly behind, carrying a glass pitcher of the fresh milk which she passed to Fran as she took a seat. I heard another set of footsteps come down from upstairs, quickly followed by a bout of eager barking as the fuzzy little dog from before appeared. His brown eyes twinkled beneath his proper little top hat as he zoned in on Impey and eagerly rushed forward, sparkling white teeth nipping eagerly at the vampire's pants leg in between bouts of waist high jumps.

"My loyal minion, Sisi, is in need of breakfast and so am I!" The shorter blonde vampire boy from before appeared in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, a rather grumpy scowl on his young face for so early of a time in the morning. 

Impey yelped as the large teeth sank in his leg a bit deeper with the request, using a bit of clever footwork to avoid stepping on the excitable dog as he made his way back to the kitchen. "Come on Sisi, I'll get your breakfast. Drac, breakfast is on the table and I'll have Cardia's scones out in just a jiff."

The blonde vampire nodded and grumbled a thanks as he too made his way to the table, taking a seat beside Van Helsing while the soldier passed him a plate. "Won't you join us too?" Saint elegantly bowed in my direction, offering me his arm to take. I blushed but accepted, tucking a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear before joining the rest of them.

"Van Helsing, were you able to speak with the Marquis about last evening's unfortunate events?" Lupin asked in the direction of the stoic soldier.

"Yes, Renfield was worried about the state of all of you, and once I assured him that no one was hurt aside from a few minor injuries,he found that it was most likely due to the fact that he suggested Delacroix returned to the mansion. What he couldn't understand was the theft of Impey's useless invention." 

While my dining mates continued on the discussion as to the possible outcomes and motives of the thieves, I struggled to keep my hair from falling forward around my neck between every bite of my breakfast I tried to take, constantly tucking the strands behind my ear. My sighs of frustration must have been louder than I realized, because I caught a curious glance from Impey watching me from the chair next to mine.

"Is your hair bothering you? I think I might have something to help." He rummaged in one of the many pockets of his orange jumpsuit, his fingers emerging with a thin dark velvet ribbon. "Try this." He smiled encouragingly.

"Thank you," Threading the ribbon through my fingers, I smoothed back my hair into a simple pony and tied the ribbon at the base, leaving only a few shorter strands still curled around my flaming cheeks. Impey had set frozen motionless the entire time, his emerald gaze following every movement of my fingers with glittering enthusiasm like I was the most fascinating thing he had every seen. 

"Barbicane, do you have anything to say?"

"Huh?" Impey blinked, his jaw falling open a bit until he looked like a surprised turtle. "Uh, repeat the question?"

Van Helsing sighed, one finger adjusting his glasses as he spoke again. "The Marquis wants to speak with you today about the device you had stolen from your workshop. Since you are the only one who truly knows what the thing does, I'll take you to go speak with him after we're finished here."

"I can't! I was going to spend the day with Luna!" Impey started to fling his arms around my shoulders, but I slithered out of his grasp by kicking my chair backwards so that he went sailing onto the floor, coughing into my fist to try and hide the rumbling growl in my throat. I still couldn't stand to be touched, not now.

"Actually, Impey. I was hoping that Luna might let me examine her and answers a few questions for me if she feels like it." Fran asked as everyone leaned around to check on the fallen vampire. "I've never had the opportunity to study a live werewolf before."

"That's okay, Fran. " I smiled softly, the gentle doctor's nature already making me feel at ease.

Down on the floor, Impey muttered comments about some guys having all the luck were muffled by the thick exotic rug.


	6. Chapter 6 - An Alternate View

~Impey~

"Ooo, pretty!" I let my fingers trail through the selection of silk ribbons hanging from a peddler's cart, lingering appreciatively over one particular hunter green one embroidered with dozens of tiny little pink hearts. "I bet Luna would look great in this." I mumbled to myself. It would certainly look much cuter in her hair rather than that old black one I had on hand."

"Ah! You have the look of a young man struck to the heart with love for a beautiful young lady." The smiling, chubby cheeked peddler pulled away from his previous transaction to drift over to my side. His cart was full of everything; flowers, ribbons, small toys, and even a few odd and end machine parts. "You're lucky to catch such a bargain. That's the last one of that style I have left. It's proven to be extremely popular with the young ladies and I bet yours would love it as well." He flipped the price tag over and my eyes bugged out of their sockets. It was that much for just a little ribbon? That was almost as much as the new spark plugs I had intended to buy for my sweet little automobile on the way home.

"Barbicane, hurry up!" Van Helsing grumbled from where he had waited a short distance away, a grumpy scowl in place that had his glasses glaring ominously in the bright sunlight.

I stuck my hand in the pocket of my pants, jingling the coins stored in there and letting their weight rest against my fingertips. My mechanical darling needed those new sparks plugs something terrible, but Luna also needed something nice too. Ah, the horrible choices of a love torn hero. It was enough that I wanted to tear out my hair.

"This ribbon is a rare treasure," The peddler purred seductively, wrapping the ribbon around his chubby fingers and letting the sunlight sparkle off the threads. "Do you see this design? It was hand embroidered by the world renowned nuns of the St. Peter's order, the best seamstresses and embroiderers of our time."

Sold! I could always weld the spark plugs back together and they should hold a little longer. I dribbled the coins into the peddler's eagerly awaiting palm in exchange for the ribbon. Now with my gift tucked securely in the pocket of my jacket, I walked back to Mr. Grumpy Glasses with a skip in my step and a smile on my face.

"The Marquis is going to be meeting his wife and daughter for lunch soon and we may not get the chance to speak with him thanks to your dawdling." The grouchy soldier growled.

"Don't worry about it, Van. We've still got plenty of time. It was worth it though to find a gift for Luna." I slung my arm around his shoulders and pulled out the ribbon from my pocket, dangling it just inches in front of his face. "Isn't this pretty? She's just going to love it, I know it! Maybe she'll even let me give her a hug and a long, passionate kiss!" 

He shoved a hand against my shoulder and pushed me away, my legs stumbling underneath me as I tried to keep my balance. "Barbicane, did you ever stop to the think that maybe your actions are what is distressing the woman so much?"

"What are you talking about Van? I just want to shower her with my love, is that so wrong?"

Van sighed heavily, pausing in his stride to turn and look me in the eye. "Your explosive reactions are something that only we can tolerate at the best of times, so could you imagine how frightening that must be to someone who has been through a specific trauma like Luna? I can sympathize with her for her feelings, I've seen the glazed look in her eyes before in many soldiers reliving the trauma of a painful past. Her mind is too full of her own troubles for any kind of authentic reaction to take place. If you really want to become closer to her, go slow. Take your time with her and gain her trust instead of trying to pounce on her every time she moves. She'll appreciate it more than you can imagine." He started to walk again only to glance over his shoulder once more, violet eyes glistening with mischievous intent. "Of course, there is always the alternative that she finds you annoying."

"You're full of it, Shotgun Four-Eyes! My darling loves me and I'm going to prove it!" I sputtered. squinting through one eye at him. "Maybe your just jealous."

"Hardly, " He grumbled, resuming the fast paced soldier's stride once more. "Now come on, Barbicane! We're going to be late." He tossed over his shoulder before weaving into the meandering crowd.

Despite Grumpy Glasses's insistence that we would we be late, we actually reached his mansion just a little early and he was still in a meeting with some noble. Van slipped away just as soon as we arrived, eager to speak with one of the other bodyguards I assumed. So I occupied myself by looking at the Marquis's collection of fine artwork and sculptures that decorated the walls.

Actually, I was really wondering how much he paid for a sculpture of a bowl of fruit.

It was pretty realistic looking, I will say that. The apples were glossy and red, the oranges plump and round as they should have been beneath a spray of perfectly oblong grapes all resting in a crystalline looking bowl. Whoever carved this had serious talent because my mouth was watering just looking at it. There was a series of initials carved in the base with smoothing, swirled strokes and something about it looked vaguely familiar. Maybe it was something I had seen before in some of Lupin's stolen loot. 

Stepping back a step, I was about to move on to a painting of some fancy dressed lady in a ball gown when someone banged into my shoulder. I spun around on my heel, assuming it was Van Helsing but it wasn't. It was some dude in a fancy black suit and tie, an ornate gold walking cane in his hand that he leaned on rather heavily as he limped by.

But that wasn't the thing that startled me the most. 

Underneath dark wispy locks, dull golden eyes glittered in a pale face that had once held typically handsome features, but were now ruined by the healed ruts of red scars that had once been carved into his face from sharp claws. He had been tall and slender once, but his frame was twisted like he had been involved in some unfortunate accident and he leaned heavily on the golden cane like it was his very means of support for standing up. He was like a battered and broken version of Lupin, but yet not Lupin. "Oh, sorry Dude. Didn't mean to back over you like that."

"No apologies are necessary." He smiled cheerfully and waved off my apology. "It was my fault for not paying attention for where I was going. Have a good day, sir."

I gaped slightly as the man hobbled off, his expensive cologne still whirling about in the air like a trail behind him, and something tickled along the edges of my thoughts. I had smelled something like it before, but at the moment I couldn't remember where.

"Ah, Mr. Barbicane. Thank you for coming so promptly." The Marquis appeared in the doorway with a cheerful smile, but the dark violet skin under his eyes spoke volumes as to his current levels of stress. The poor guy probably hadn't had a good night's sleep since this all started. He ushered me in to his office with a sweep of his arm, Van Helsing having already taken a position by the window and was looking out at the street below. "I hope that Lord Hasting didn't give too much trouble in your encounter in the hall." He said as he settled into his chair behind the desk with a groan.

"Morning, Renny. Are you talking about that guy?" I hiked my thumb over my shoulder to point to the departing man. "Nah, he was very polite about it. Apologized and everything. Is he in some kind of trouble or something?"

"Trouble is more likely to be his name." Van grumbled under his breath.

"Indeed, I am most inclined to agree with Van Helsing on this matter." The Marquis leaned forward and propped his arms on the cluttered surface of his desk, his fingers massaging circles into the skin of his temples. "The young Lord Remus Hasting has been a thorn in my side for some time. He is one that opposes the vampire/human relations and also unfortunately owns land in the country near to where England's current population of vampires is being housed to try and discourage the kidnappings. He doesn't have much support due to him not being one of the more popular lords in her majesty's court, but he is still a lord that wields a considerable amount of influence regardless. I have also suspected him of having a hand in the black market trade of illegal magical and supernatural items, but he has not been caught with anything yet."

"He sounds like a bad kind of dude." 

"That he is." He nodded wisely. "Now, the reason I had called you here today was that Van Helsing had reported in that there was some trouble at Saint Germain's mansion. Mainly being your assault and attempted kidnapping, the attempted kidnapping of Delacroix II, and the theft of your invention, is that correct?"

"Yeah, those bastards made off with one of my newest inventions and tried to drug me too! If it hadn't been for the lovely Luna totally kicking their ass, I would probably be mincemeat by now." I clenched my fist and slammed it against my thigh for emphasis.

"Luna Iselda, that was the name of the female werewolf who you rescued from the warehouse, correct? I do believe that I have recently saw a few reports about the subrace's casualties due to Twilight's influence and I believe I saw a werewolf pack with that same name. Would you mind explaining to me the workings of your invention while I try to locate that in this mess?" He gestured his hands wide towards the columns of papers piled even higher on his desk than the last time I saw him.

"Sure, I'd be happy too. The invention they stole was a recreation of a device that someone I was close to had invented before and it's been missing for a long time. A Gravity Alleviator, or my recreation of one, was first invented by my friend, the old man vampire who rescued me when I was just a kid."

"Yes, I do remember you explaining that to me previously. He sounded like a like a charming old fellow." The Marquis's voice was slightly muffled behind the papers as he spoke. 

"He was a great old guy. The original idea of the device itself was that it generated a force repulsive to matter and could negate gravity to nearly zero as long as it had a large enough power source. It was his life's work and I didn't fully understand it the first time he explained it to me, but using what I could remember and speaking with some engineers I had met in London, I was working on partially decent replication when they stole it from me. It doesn't work though, it can't reduce any gravity because I've already tried it." 

"Really? That's very interesting. I'm sure you will figure out the problem soon." He dove a little deeper into the stack of papers, his head being just barely visible from my side of the desk.

While the Marquis was searching for the report, I amused myself by looking at the little figurines and stuff he had on his desk. Hey! Cool! The Marquis has a miniature train set on his desk. I rolled it with my finger, the tiny wheels making a clacking sound as the moved atop the wooden surface. It's wouldn't take much to fit a tiny motor as an engine and this little baby really would boogie.

"Barbicane! Pay attention!" Van growled.

I looked up to the Marquis staring at me with an slightly amused smile while Van looked like he wanted me to vanish right into the floor. I let my hand drop from the train back to my side and smiled a little sheepishly. "Oops, sorry about that. Is the train yours?"

"My grandson's actually. He left it there when he visited the other morning and I haven't had the chance to return it to him yet."

I poked the engine car with my finger again, sending it rolling another two steps across the smooth surface until it bumped into a pile of papers nearly waist high. "You know, I could probably fix this up with a little motor and your grandson would have a blast with it."

The Marquis leaned forward in his chair, eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect. "Would you? I would gladly pay for your time and materials if you could. My grandson is absolutely fascinated with trains and he would absolutely adore it." 

Of course I would! No question about it! I already had a reply formed on my lips when Van clamped down a heavy hand on the Marquis shoulder. "Sir, I wouldn't advise letting your Grandson around one of Barbicane's inventions. They have an unfortunate habit of exploding instead of working the way they should."

"Rather like your cooking, eh Grumpy Glasses? It's always more toxic than it appears to be." I smiled smugly, letting the soldier feel the burn only to have the business end of his shotgun shoved right in my face.

"Was that a crack about my cooking?" A dangerous black aura had engulfed Van Helsing's figure, his glasses glinting darkly in the light that shadowed his knife sharp violet eyes from sight. His trigger finger hovered threateningly over the trigger, threatening to drop at any given moment. 

"Ah-ha! Luna Iselda. I knew I had it right here." The Marquis shouted rather suddenly, producing a single sheet of paper with a proud flourish to land in the center of the desk. Van Helsing backed away with a slight sigh, holstering his gun for another use while I rubbed a stiff hand against my jaw where the cold metal had bit into my skin. "Luna Iselda, middle child of the Alpha Iselda of the Crosshire pack. Young female. Age: unknown. Status: Presumed dead." He went silent as he read down through the report. "It seems that her pack was presumed to be completely eradicated by agents of Twilight after Issac Beckford's disappearance. Unfortunately, we don't have any further details in her case aside from what little we know of her abuse at the hands of the ring."

My heart twisted painfully in my chest. Poor Luna, no wonder she's so sad. Her whole family was just gone. I could understand how that feels.

"Mr. Barbicane. If Ms. Iselda is now able to speak about the horrors that she witnessed and shed some light on our current situation. It goes without mentioning just how much danger she is in at the present time. I am sure that if whoever is behind all of this evil knows she is alive and well, they will go to any length to ensure that she is silenced permanently." 

"Sure thing, Renny! You can count on me!" I smiled and gave the Marquis a thumbs up. There was no way I was going to let any of those bastards after Luna. That would be over my dead body.

Leaning away from the window, Van Helsing leaned down and whispered into the Marquis ear. "I hope you have an alternate plan of action." 

I pretended not to hear that.


	7. Chapter 7 - Move forward, but never forget

~Luna~

"How fascinating! I had never realized that a bog was located there." The silver haired nobleman complemented my geography skills for what had to have been the one hundredth time in the last hour. I couldn't help but blush tomato red as Saint continued to heap praise after praise on my head. He was quickly becoming almost as bad as Impey.

Fran's evaluation of my health had extended over to the other's curiosities about my abilities as well, leading to a test of stealth and speed with Lupin that resulted in his quick defeat. The gentleman thief was completely puzzled as to how I had managed to both slip past his expert awareness and fetch the small rock that he had used for a target straight from his hands. If nothing else, the skills I had used for combat gave me a slight edge plus my own natural werewolf abilities as well. 

After that experience came the trial from hell, cooking. Cardia had invited me to help prepare a small lunch for the group, but seeing as how my mother had shooed me from the kitchen as much as possible when I was younger, I had tried to politely decline but the girl was confident that no one could make more of a mess than she did when she first started cooking. Much to Cardia's shock and my embarrassment, absence had not bode well for my already questionable cooking skills as I made quite the mess of the kitchen. Actually, it was more than a mess, it looked like a bomb had went off inside the building. Adding to the factor was that I couldn't quite figure out why the boiling water set itself aflame even though it was water. Water shouldn't burn. The girl then proceeded to laugh and share her own mishaps with her first time cooking a meal, the ill fated sandwiches that Impey showered praise over even though they were more of a smushed together mess than a proper sandwich. 

After that horrendous experience and Cardia's gentle suggestion that maybe it would be better if she prepared lunch by herself, I had been swept aside by Saint and led to his study where he proceeded to question me about the various land features across the English countryside in comparison to the large map he had spread across the long rectangular wooden desk that sat center of the room occupied from wall to wall with bookshelves filled with novels of every shape and size. I wonder if he's read all of them? I used to like to read before everything happened, but true books were expensive and the pack always had a need for clothing and food instead of frivolous things like books so I had made do with what I had found left behind by others.

I wandered about the shelves, letting my fingers dance over the golden embossed spines when I noticed a painter's easel and a blank canvas sitting upright in one corner between two shelves. Curious, I let my fingers smooth over the taught surface of the canvas and feeling the textured roughness slide against my fingertips ever careful of my nails snagging the smooth surface and creating a gash. I used to like to paint too and I became quite good at mixing the native berries and minerals to create my own paint.

"I see you've found one of my little side projects." The silver haired gentleman stepped to my side and observed the empty canvas with a critical eye. "Regretfully, I haven't painted as much as I had originally intended as I find my mind wandering to other paths and options while doing so. I do dabble from time to time, but mostly the supplies just sit here gathering dust from year to year. Do you paint, Luna?"

"I used to before everything." I trailed my fingers once more across the canvas before allowing them to drop completely. "I don't know if I could again."

"I would be honored if you would use those to create when ever you wish." He bowed elegantly. 

As I continued my exploration of Saint's study, I found myself gazing out the window to where Impey was working on the automobile once again. I wasn't aware that he had returned from the errand that Van Helsing had pulled him away too, but he had and was now working on the automobile once again. A fine shower of orange sparks leaped around his tall figure bent double to reach into the deepest objects under the hood, and a single black tube snaked down around his legs and returned into the depths of his studio like some large black serpent. 

I heard a sharp tink and my right ear perked up and twisted towards the sound. Whatever had happened, had apparently not been to his desire as he was now thoroughly coated in sticky black oil and sputtering curses so absurd that I giggled just the slightest bit. Just beyond the reach of the black liquid spreading across the grass like water, both Delly and Sisi had paused their activity to laugh at the muck covered vampire, earning themselves a splatter of oil thrown just shy of their direction as he too laughed at himself. The young vampire king and his canine companion ventured away as I watched Impey with puzzled amusement as he tinkered with the automobile for a few more moments before retreating into his studio.

I should have looked away then.

Taking a long worm looking contraption from the depths of his studio, Impey stepped into the shadows behind his workshop and began to strip out of his soiled clothing, leaving himself in just his heart printed boxers in broad daylight no less. Pure clean water flowed out of his contraption as he held it around his body and swept away the muck, leaving behind pristine pale skin once more. I couldn't dare to tear my eyes from the sight, entranced by the way his large hands smoothed over his firm developed muscles, and my tail involuntary twitched against my left leg in a delighted wiggle. My fingers burned with the urge to paint this scene as it branded myself into my mind. Perhaps I would, but only for my own viewing and no one else. 

"Do you see something of interest out there, my lady?" Saint asked as he started to cross over to where I stood by the window. I nearly jumped out of my skin, my heart slamming in my chest with the sudden rush of adrenaline in my system.I hurriedly reached up to pull the curtain's closed, accidentally tugging the fabric a little too hard in my haste to hide the object of my interest that the fabric threatened to tear under my grip. 

"Nothing really, it was just a butterfly." I lied, trying my hardest not to let the scorching blush on my cheek betray myself too badly. "Maybe we should go down and see if Cardia needs any help with preparing the table for lunch?"

"A wonderful idea. I'm sure she would appreciate the gesture." With a sweeping arm, Saint gestured me forward into the hall and down to where Cardia had most certainly made a delicious lunch of salad mixed with fresh vegetables from the garden outside. I did happen to know that it wasn't in her original plans, but since my involvement had caused all her other ingredients to be either burnt to a crispy black or totally under-cooked to a runny, mushy consistency, the salad was a delightful alternative.

The others gathered in quickly, including Impey with small drops of water still dripping from his hair every time he moved. I tried my best not to glance too long in his direction just in case he had managed to see my figure in the window and remembered it now. 

It was as we finished the meal and the used dishes were being divided up for carrying into the kitchen when Van Helsing stood and made a rather unusual statement.

"I want to evaluate her skills in combat. There is no excuse even for a woman to be unskilled in defending herself." Van said, his hard edged violet eyes spearing across the table to land directly on my own. I couldn't help but shiver as the blood-soaked memories from the dominance fights in my pack plus the endless battles for them quickly surfaced. I could defend myself if the time came to it. I had proven that already by taking care of Remus's kidnapping squad myself. I narrowed my eyes, dropping my gaze from the soldier's fierce glare to the table while my thoughts churned with possibilities. Did he simply want to test my abilities for himself? Or was it something more sinister? 

"No way! You can't take my darling Luna for that, Shotgun Four-Eyes!" Impey spun on his heel and came hurtling towards me with alarming speed, his arms outstretched and ready to enfold my body but that wasn't going to happen. As soon as I felt his hands graze my shoulders, my instincts guided my hands and I both grabbed and twisted his arms in a single motion, easily flipping him off over my head and jumping back a safe distance. Impey groaned on impact with the floor, his bones painfully cracking so loudly that I winched in pain myself from unintentionally slamming him to the floor a little harder than I meant too. I didn't mean to really hurt him. 

"Perhaps you should reconsider, Van. It doesn't look like Luna needs any additional assistance with her skills." Lupin quirked and the whole table erupted into polite laughter, even Van Helsing's stoic expression breaking for a moment with the twitch of a smile curling the edges of his lips.

"Regardless, I want to make sure that we are all prepared for whatever comes next." Van said.

As much as I hated the thought of fighting him, he did have a valid point. For the short time I had been at the mansion, it seemed that Van Helsing was in charge of any combat maneuvers and the protection of the little group of friends. Something about him seemed familiar though, and I shifted through my thoughts as I carried my portion of the dishes into the kitchen for a wash. Back then, it seemed that I could remember a few sprigs of gossip between some of Remus's underlings about a young blond soldier being personally trained by Twilight's second in command. If the tales were true, Van Helsing might very well be that very soldier himself. Somehow that didn't surprise me in the least. "I'll join you shortly." I said as I returned to the dining room and gave my reply to the solider.

The soldier issued a curt nod "Good. I have a few things to do, but I'll meet you this evening in the forest." The statement was more of an order, but I nodded my head regardless. A sick feeling took hold of my stomach with sharp claws, easily tearing every fiber of my nerves into tiny shreds. 

That was how I wound up following Van Helsing into the forest behind the mansion, the sun blazing lower as afternoon turned into evening and tiny lightning bugs began to dance in the warm night air. He stopped in a clearing and suddenly spun around to face me, shrugging off his long blue jacket and placing it aside while he pulled his guns from their holsters with one smooth movement. "These are rock salt shells. They won't injure you too badly, but they will hurt when they hit." The smirk on his face could only be described as smug as he leveled the gun-barrels in my direction. "Do your worst." Instinct made my body drop into a low crouch in anticipation of fleeing the strikes. I saw a flash of light shift along his glasses a minuscule second before his fingers quickly pulled the trigger. 

The bullets drove home in the trunks of the trees where I had previously been standing moments before, a splinter grazing my cheek as I leaped high into the branches of the trees above. "You're fast." The soldier acknowledged me for a moment before firing off again. I leaped from tree branch to tree branch like a squirrel with bullets raining down on my heels as Van Helsing followed my every movement with precise accuracy. When a bullet flew past my left ear, I slid from the trees and dropped down into the safety of a lush green shrubbery. 

I flicked my ears towards the sound of his bootsteps crunching over the soft grass, the excitement of the blood pulsing through my veins sent the smallest wriggle down through the tip of my tail before I forced it still. As much as I didn't like it, the predator's instinct to lie in waiting for my prey was too strong for me to ignore. 

His footsteps stopped a few feet away from hiding place and I heard the click of his guns as he forced another round into the chambers. A predator himself, I could hear his own efforts to quiet his own breathing, the slightly audible scratch of his clothing against the tree bark as he waited in the shadow of one of the thick trunks. Through a small parting in the branches of my shelter, I could see the tips of his shaggy blonde hair from the side of a tree directly to my right. "You're very fast and accurate as well. I can see why you lasted so long in the fighting rings." I pulled myself through the underbrush with a steady hand, slowly creeping around to face his back and careful not to make the slightest bit of noise. "But you lack the aggression to face someone head on. If someone you cared about was in danger, would you attack someone to save their life?"

Even though it was a rather innocent question, a bloodthirsty red haze pulled over my thoughts and suddenly it was not Van's stoic voice speaking those words, but his mocking tone I heard ask that very same question. It was not Van Helsing standing there, but Remus. The man I had loved and been betrayed by. The man I had swore would be my enemy for what he had done.

I surged forward from the bushes with a blur of speed, taking Van Helsing by surprise as my teeth drove home in the junction of his right shoulder and my nails raked down his back in long bloody strips, his blood rushing into my mouth hot and salty as I felt his back muscles stiffen with the pain. Despite that, He twisted his right arm around and grabbed a handful of hair and the back of my neck, throwing me over his shoulder and into the air while tearing his wound further as my teeth came free from his neck. I twisted in mid-air, pushing my feet beneath me and sprang right back, crashing straight into his middle and wrapping my arms around his waist. Van Helsing grunted with the impact, his back meeting the ground as I knocked him down and propped my knee on his chest, my hands curled up and ready to strike if he so much as flexed a finger.

"Don't push me!" I snarled, droplets of blood dripping from my teeth as I bared my teeth just inches from his face. To his credit, the soldier didn't flinch or move a single muscle to try and dislodge me. Instead, those violet eyes flashed hard as steel behind his frames. A low rumbling growl poured out of my throat and my tail slapped against the ground in a warning thump. 

The soldier narrowed his eyes, his body quickly twisting under my hands as he squirmed away and pushed himself to his feet. "Why not? A real fight would push you to your limits and I see no reason why this one should be any different." My fists flashed out towards his face and he dodged both strikes. I punched and kicked with every bit of skill I could remember, but he blocked them all with a skilled hand maneuver. I was panting, the heat of the fight growing stronger in my bones as I finally made contact with a lighting fast uppercut to his jaw. Van Helsing staggered back a step, shaking his head to clear the dizziness that the blow had caused. Sensing an opening, I rushed forward and grabbed Van Helsing's arms and twisted them up in right angles along his back, pushing his body up against the trunk of a tree.

"Hey, Van! I thought that you were-" Impey's voice cut through the silence that had suddenly fell as he stepped into the clearing. My eyes darted over to meet his and I could see the silent horror that glowed deep within along with the faintest glimmer of disbelief. "Luna... How did..."

I let my hands drop, shame burning through my veins as I raised up and turned towards the woods. I could feel both sets of eyes following my every movement as silvery tears slowly trickled down my face. First one, then two. Then I was running, desperate to get away from the guilt of hurting an innocent person. The trees whipped by my head in a blur till I was standing in the grassy meadow behind the mansion. That was where I sank to the ground and pulled my knees to my chest, delivering every sob into the shelter of my arms till my very bones ached with the need to release the bottled up pain. 

My right ear flicked as I heard thumping footsteps travel across the grass and draw close. I raised my head up from the cradle of my arms and peered through blurry eyes to see someone standing not too far away. I blinked again and the tears vanished, leaving only Impey standing in the moonlight with concern etched into the worried lines of a frown. "Hey, are you okay? Van's alright, you know. He can take a lot tougher blows than that. We were in an airship race once where I shot him out of a cannon and he still kicked the ass of everyone who was trying to shoot us down" 

I chuckled softly as the mental image of Impey stuffing an angry Van Helsing into one of the army issue cannons flashed through my head. How was he even still standing? "I'm surprised that Van Helsing didn't stuff you in the cannon instead."

He laughed and said that Van did try a little while later, then his expression sobered and his voice was low as he explained why the cannon had been necessary and the goal of the airship race was to find the documents leading them to one of Isaac Beckford's underground laboratories. I listened to his tale as eight months prior, He and Lupin had been involved with the theft of a secret weapon from the Royal British Army, that weapon being Cardia with her poison filled skin that destroyed anything that touched her bare skin. The two had brought her back to the mansion where Fran had discovered that she had no heartbeat, her poison and her body powered by the Horologium that resided in her chest. Believed to be a monster and pursued by her slightly deranged brother Finis for the Horologium itself, it had taken the combined efforts of Lupin, Fran, Saint, Impey, and Van Helsing to help Cardia in a twisting adventure to discover herself and to ultimately escape from the clutches of Finis and her father Isaac aboard the Nautilus, a giant weapon enabled airship captained by the scientist Nemo that had razed downtown London with fiery destruction. The mission had been succesful, but a few tears leaked from my eyes again as he told me that he had seen Cardia and Lupin fall together arm in arm from the slowly dismantling ship, giving each other a final kiss as they plunged through the skies. 

"I thought they were dead, we all did, but they were fine." He tore his gaze from the grass at his feet to meet my eyes. "Actually, Cardia was better than fine. We don't know how, but we suspect that somehow Cardia's wackjob dad deactivated her poison and kept her alive despite the energy being drained from the Horologium. Fran suspected that maybe he used the energy that he powered his own self with to fuel Cardia's life, and she did have a small jewel in her hands after the fall, but whatever the truth was, it kept her with us." 

"That's amazing." Somehow my mind refused to wrap around the entire tale. I just couldn't see the sweet brunette as the monster that many had believed her to be. I'm glad that she was happy now with Lupin. They were a sweet pair and certainly deserved their happy ending.

"Hey...um. I spoke with Marquis Renfield about something. He said your entire pack was killed by Twilight, but I was wondering. Is there anyone we could help you find? A friend? A distant family member or something?" Impey asked so sweetly that I believe he might have traveled across the world if I had told him I needed him to.

I shook my head. "Do you know how a pack works?"

He shook his head and smiled a slightly sheepish smile.. "Vampires weren't big on learning how Werewolf packs worked."

I drew my knees up tighter against my chest before I started to explain. "My pack was the Crosshire pack, one of the five packs still remaining free across the lands and we mostly roamed the area north of London. My dad was the alpha male and my mother the alpha female, meaning that they were the leaders of our pack and controlled most of the decisions that effected our pack. Our pack wasn't as big as some, we had maybe 15 members in all and 8 of those besides my father and my mother were all elders, too old to be accepted as useful to the other packs but they weren't ready to die just yet. My older brother Fenris was a year older than me and my father's beta, or second in line to rule the pack. He was considered really handsome by most females with his curly russet hair and laughing amber eyes, including the human ones that we rarely came in contact with, but they didn't know that he was a real pain in the tail when he wanted to be."

Impey stifled a snort in his hands, his eyes squinting up in laughter. 

"I was the Beta female till Fenris took a mate and my mother's second as the older female child, and then there was my baby sister Syrena, just barely seven when she died. She was a beautiful little girl, like one of those little cherubs in those expensive paintings that everyone loves, all chubby cheeks and light blond curls with a wonderful smile. She loved everyone and everything, no matter how many people tried to turn her away." I trailed off a bit, remembering the violent reaction and screams that came with many of our altercations with humans. We weren't monsters. We weren't going to eat them, but still so many treated us like the monsters of legend, trying to kill us or ward us off when all we were doing was simply trying to live the same as them.

"Let me guess, Werewolves weren't exactly welcomed by the humans with open arms. I know the feeling." Impey said.

A small bitter smile curled my own lips. "With all of our members growing older, Me, Fenris, Syrena, a young male named Simon, and a young female named Maria were the only ones who were considered young enough to carry the pack duties as the elders became more frail. So my father decided to have us settle for a little while to make it easier on all of us. We built houses in a beautiful green field and had a life growing what we could and trading for what we could not. It wasn't perfect and we lacked more than most, but we were happy." I paused and swallowed thickly, the next part sticking in my throat like a ball of wax. "Then a man came one day, saying he wanted to research out powers as demi-humans for a potential way to help save mankind from a deadly sickness. He was kind and welcoming about our presence, and like fools we agreed as long as our location would remain secret. Becoming test subjects for Issac Beckford and his experiments." 

Impey sucked in a surprised breath through his teeth. "Your family was a test subject for Creepy Beckford?"

I nodded again. "We proudly demonstrated our skills and strength, thinking we were doing something to help people when really all he was doing was looking for a way to power the Horologium. But it was useless, we had no magic. No endless source of power inside us merely because we were different. Yes, our strength and stamina is stronger than most, but we had nothing different to give. During that time, he had a young handsome assistant who I fell madly in love with, but when Issac died. He betrayed us all by leading Twilight straight to our home and slaughtering us in our beds. I survived because I was important to him, he saw me as a money maker for some of his family's black market activities and I did earn him quite the fee by always winning any match he gave me. But I'll kill him if I ever get the chance. So, to answer your question, no. I have no family left." 

"Luna, I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that. Nobody deserves to see that." The glimmer of unshed tears showed brightly in his eyes and he started to reach for my hands, but drew back at the last moment like he remembered something. "I know it doesn't mean a lot, but is there anything that I can do to help take your mind off of that. You're so pretty and I know you're a good person no matter what you've had to do. You deserve to be happy and not crying. I don't want to see you cry anymore."

I looked up at the moon shining so brightly up above and though of one single thing that used to clear my mind no matter how troubled I was. "I want to run." I whispered.

The grass crinkled as he stood up, swiping a hand across his trousers to free any remaining blades of grass. "Then come on, let's run!" He said, a smile of pure joy on his lips as jogged back a few steps. "I bet you can't catch me!"

He dashed off in a whirling blur of speed, nothing more than a blob of orange and scarlet hair waving in the wind. A restless burst of energy rolled through my limbs, pushing me to run, to chase after the figure running from me. I pushed to my feet, setting off into a trotting run that quickly turned into a dash at the top of my speed as I tried to catch up with Impey's quick, spine twisting turns and leaping somersaults. Every time I reached out to try and touch him, his shoulder or his hand, he would quickly jerk away with a bark of laughter and flash me a smile. Soon I felt my own joyous laughter bubbling up and rolling past my lips as I ran. 

I was happy. 

Impey had twisted away from me once again when I had drawn near and I had turned once again after him when I felt my ankle slip and give away in the grass, my body teetering on the edge of falling down the slight incline of the small rolling rise in the land. 

"Luna!" I heard him shout as my arms pinwheeled, his lanky arms folding around my shoulders as one second he was running towards me, and then the next we were falling, tumbling head over heels down the slope. His arms wrapped around my waist and tugged me against his figure, trying to shield me from the worst of the blows. 

Only once we came to a stop did I realize that he was touching me, and I was okay with it. Gingerly checking to make sure that nothing was broken, I became aware that I had landed with my entire body laying atop his, and my cheeks immediately blushing with the possibility of such a situation as my breathing grew even heavier. I raised my gaze to his face, noting just how beautiful the moonlight made his eyes glow an ever darker emerald than their normal lighter hue. His hands raised up to my face, the leather of his gloves wonderfully warm against my skin as he cupped my cheeks so lightly. "You really are beautiful." he whispered almost reverently, his lips just inches from my skin and I felt myself lowering to seal that connection. 

For someone so excitable in his gestures, his lips were so soft and gentle on mine. Just as light as the tips of his fingers as they threaded through the strands of my hair. His kiss absolutely leaving me breathless and wanting for me. I started to raise my hands to his shoulders, needing to feel his warm strength, but old memories came rushing back to the fore of my mind and it was suddenly his's lips, not Impey's, that I was kissing. His hands that were holding me instead of the strong ones I knew were there. I tried to silence the frantic thoughts running through my head, but I couldn't. 

It was involuntary when I shoved Impey's shoulders against the grassy ground and I scrambled to my feet. "Impey, I'm sorry. I can't-" I turned my head away from those surprised emerald eyes, unable to bear the shame of my own as I fled back to the mansion and my room.


	8. Chapter 8 - An Eventful Trip

~Impey~

"Fran, we're just going shopping for supplies, not going to stock up for the next five years."

As soon as I spoke up, Fran's head jerked up from the list he had been reading while walking towards the car. Nearly as long as his arm, it was kind of amazing in itself just how much stuff eight people and a dog could need. "Sorry, Impey. I just wanted to make sure that I had everything perfectly correct." He said with a slightly sheepish smile. "Is the car ready?"

I lightly patted the smooth curved hood of my little mechanical darling with the palm of my hand. "Yep, she's all ready to roll! I tuned up her motor myself, re-welded her spark plugs, and fixed the backfiring issue with her pipes. So she's just like new."

"If your definition of new is a rusted out heap that's barely being held together by a few bolts and gears, than I would hate to see what your definition of new is." Emerging from the shadows of the mansion like some kind of creepy phantom or something, Mr. Shotgun Four Eyes himself walked up to stand beside Fran and cast a scathing glance towards my pride and joy. 

I had started to reply when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, a flash of gold lingering along the shadows of the trees. I didn't turn even though I wanted to because I knew exactly who was there. Luna had been following me at a distance all morning, sometimes venturing up closer where I could see her like now, and others hanging just beyond the distance that I could sense that she was there but I couldn't see her. The first few times I had started to approach her, but she seemed so nervous that I always made like I was doing something else instead. After she ran away when I kissed her last night, I was bummed out a bit and kicked myself for scaring her away and I didn't want to scare her anymore than I already had. 

I wonder if she thought I was mad at her? Not that I was. There was no way that I could be mad at her for something like that, but I wish she would come up here so I could tell her that. 

"Luna, do you want to ride into town with us?" Fran's friendly call startled me out of my thoughts and I saw her slink closer on silent steps. Her pretty eyes glanced down at the ground, her arms folded behind her back as she dragged the toe of her left boot along the ground in a small semi-circle. The thick brush of her tail curled tightly around her leg almost to the point that it had disappeared. 

"Thank you for inviting me, Fran. But I don't think so." She whispered softly.

"Aww, come on Luna! I'll show you all the best sights in London." I cooed, shooting her a wink but she only raises her eyes for the briefest moment before they dropped back to the ground.

"Impey, I can't go. As soon as someone notices I'm a werewolf, they'll chase me right out of town." Her thick tawny tail thumped twice against her leg in agitation before stilling. 

I looked up to her fuzzy ears, the pointed tips flickering lightly as they listened to the sounds coming from all around us. They were totally cute in my opinion, but I did get what she was saying. That's when I remembered the ribbon I had bought for her yesterday but I never got the chance to give it to her last night. I reached down in the pocket of my left leg and pulled out the green and pink embroidered ribbon. "Your tail should be easy enough to hide if you keep it tucked up under your skirt, but I have an idea for your ears. Do you mind if I try something?"

Her eyes warily glanced down at my hands, but she slowly nodded her head for me to continue. Her body stiffened as I stepped a half step closer and reached my arms around her shoulders, her hands tightly fisting into the fabric of her skirt that I briefly thought she might tear it. With a single tug, I pulled the dark ribbon binding her hair loose and her silky tawny waves fell freely around her shoulders.

Threaded the green and ink ribbon through her hair and carefully tucked her ears beneath the ribbon. She shivered as my fingers brushed against the base of her ears, but held still as I tightened it just firm enough that it wouldn't slip free, but also that it wouldn't hurt her either as I tied it in a pretty little bow underneath the space where her left ear would be. Tah-Dah! A perfect hairband. 

I leaned back to admire my work and whistled lowly through my teeth. I didn't think it was possible for her to be even cuter than what she already was, but my sweetie-pie was absolutely adorable! "Honey, you look gorgeous! The most beautiful woman ever! You really should wear your hair down more often."

She shyly ducked her eyes and threaded one silky curl around the tip of a finger. "Beautiful isn't something that quite applies to me." I barely heard her murmur.

I frowned, a question of why she said that hanging on the tip of my tongue, but before I could speak, Fran was already inviting her to sit inside the automobile. In the back, of course. Leaving me to drive while Van sat in the passenger seat. Grumpy Glasses certainly wasn't my idea of a co-pilot. I was thinking about a certain little wolf-lady sitting beside me, her eyes glowing with happiness and fluffy ears perked up while she pointed out all the sights that made her happy. It sounded like a totally beautiful day dream.

"Barbicane, are you going to stand there staring at the clouds all day or do I need to drive this cursed contraption into London for us?" Van scowled while Fran giggled slightly into the side of his hand, the giggle being echoed by Luna as she smiled softly with a quick shy glance aimed in my direction.

"No thanks, Four eyes. This baby needs a gentle hand to steer her along, not a salty angry one that looks at everyone like he's planing their murder." I chirped while slipping into the driver's seat, somehow missing the subtle twitch of Van's right brow as he reached down for the pistol in it's holster. However, I sure didn't miss the silver muzzle being jabbed into my cheek.

"Barbicane, I have heard about a new way to tenderize meat using rock salt. Would you be interested in becoming my test subject?" The soldier growled.

"Van, please don't threaten Impey. He was just joking." Fran tried to soothe the angry blonde soldier with a slightly stressed looking smile, his hands making little patting motions to the air like he was trying to smooth down Van's ruffled feathers. "Besides, he's the one most familiar with the automobiles controls and we'll need him if it breaks down again. Van humphed, returning the gun to it's holster as he shifted his shoulders against the seat. 

"Do you always try to kill each other?" Luna asked softly as I was reaching to start up my mechanical baby.

Surprised, I turned around in my seat to see her staring at the two of us with slight glaze of dread over those golden beauties and I couldn't help but want to reassure her that everything was okay. "Don't worry, sweetie. Me and Van are just kidding around, that's all. We're really best buds when you get down to it. 

"I wouldn't call us 'Best buds' in any sense of the word," Van Helsing swiveled in his seat to look directly at Luna's face with those flat, cold eyes of his. "However annoying I do find Barbicane, he is a fairly useful person on occasion to have around for mechanical things given that they don't blow up, an extremely loyal companion, and a fairly decent fighter in his own right. Granted friends is a considerable stretch for some of the words that come to my mind for Barbicane, but he is far from appearing on my list of enemies."

"Aww, gee Van." I wiped away a sentimental tear that leaked from my left eye. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about me. It's making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It almost makes me want to give you a hug." 

The expression on the soldier's face could only be described as stoic pain. "Would you like to retain the use of your arms for the rest of your life?" I poked my tongue out at him and the sound of Luna laughing behind me made my day complete.

God, she had a beautiful laugh.

Our ride into town was actually pretty boring with everyone simply watching the scenery go by, the rolling greenery and packed dirt roads turning into closer knit buildings and cobblestone streets as we rolled into London with Fran directing me to our first stop at a general merchant to pick up a box of supplies that he had ordered previously for the house. From the way Fran talked, I was expecting a little box about the size of a ladies hat box, not something that looked like it was ready to go on board a ship leaving for a month long cruise. Could eight people really even need that much stuff?

"You doing okay, Van?" I asked. 

"I'm fine." The grumpy shotgun wielder grunted as he lifted the case of supplies into the open trunk. Peeking up from the corner of his shirt, I could see the edge of the thick white bandage Fran had wrapped around Luna's bite wound even though I couldn't smell any fresh blood. Even though she was turned away and standing next to Fran going over the list to make sure that we had everything, I saw her ear flick around while she listened to our conversation. Poor thing, she looked so guilty that she bit him.

I leaned my elbow against the door, casually observing the soldier when I noticed a familiar figure hobbling along. Mrs. Ernestine, the caretaker of an orphanage that I frequently visited when I had the chance. A stout woman despite her advanced age with her iron grey hair pulled up into a severely tight bun and a slight sway to her walk as she leaned on a ornately carved wooden cane topped by a golden brass knob, she was still an imposing figure as she walked in her dark black mourning dress even though her husband had been dead for at least 10 years or more. "Good morning, Mrs. Ernestine!" I called and waved my hand cheerfully.

"Good morning to you as well. Mr. Barbicane and to you as well Sir Van Helsing! I hope you are doing better than I am." Mrs. Ernestine puffed slightly as she paused near us.

"What seems to be the trouble, madam?" Van closed the trunk with a strong push before turning around to face the lady.

"My automobile has decided to give up once again while we're getting ready to leave from our supplies run, and now I seemed to have lost one of my charges, Clair. She's normally such a good girl and she never wanders off, but something must have happened because I can't find her anywhere!" She was almost at the point of bursting into tears by the time she finished. 

"Whose lost?" I heard Fran say as he came over with Luna trailing slightly behind him.

"Mrs. E's car has went out and she's lost one of the little kids that was with her. Clair." I said.

"Oh, no! That's terrible. We'll help you look for her. The four of us can cover more ground than you could alone. This isn't a good place for a little girl like that on her own." Fran's big eyes were round with worry over the possibility of the girl's fate on the streets of London. 

When Fran mentioned the four of us, I noticed that Mrs. Ernestine glanced over to where Luna was standing just behind Fran. As if sensing the older woman's curiosity, she slipped behind the tails of Fran's white coat even more like she was trying to hide herself from view. Actually, she probably was based on what she had told me before about her encounters with the regular humans. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met before?" 

"Um... No. I don't believe so." If it was even possible, I think Luna was trying to fold in on herself as Mrs. Ernestine's gaze lingered on where her ears were tucked beneath the ribbon.

"Mrs. E, this is Luna Iselda. My newest friend and the total love of my life. Luna, this is Mrs. Ernestine, the woman with the biggest heart I've ever seen. She runs and takes care of the kids at the city orphanage." Van rolled his eyes at my gushing and Fran chuckled a little bit, but the flaring red blush that raced across Luna's cheeks was so dang cute that I wanted to pick her up and squeeze her.

"Mr. Barbicane has a way of exaggerating things, Luna. But I am proud to be the appointed caretaker for all the little darlings in need of a good home." Mrs. Ernestine stepped forward and reached out a hand that I was glad to see Luna take and shake lightly.

Drawing attention back to the subject at hand, Van Helsing cleared his throat and started speaking again. "Mrs. Ernestine, when did you last see the child?"

As it turned out, Mrs. E had stopped in a nearby shop to ask for a little help with her automobile after it broke down, thinking that Clair was still holding her hand. Only to see that she had slipped away into the street and vanished. What made it worse was that Clair was known for not talking to strangers or really anybody that she wasn't very close to, so she could slip through the streets like a tiny phantom and nobody would really ever notice her. It hadn't been very long ago, so she couldn't have gotten too far. So the plan was that me, Luna, and Mrs. Ernestine would go back and start searching the area around the starting point to see if we might could pick up her scent while Fran and Van would alert the local Scotland yard members and then join our search. The plan was all nice and organized as we split up and started off. That is till we were just a ways down the street when a sudden screech nearly made my heart fall right out of my chest. 

"Alice! What are you doing out there?" Mrs. Ernestine cried. Her fingers shakily lifted and pointed to where a little golden haired girl was bent over in the middle of the street, her tiny hands brushing the dust from a small tattered rag doll and completely unaware of an automobile quickly barreling towards her.

I was already running to try and reach her, but I was too slow. A blur of gold and green rushed past my side and scooped the girl up. One second she was in the arms of a woman, the next she was riding astride a large wolf in downtown London leaving a trail of sparkles and ripped fabric in her wake. Holy shit! That was Luna! The horses standing nearby screamed at the sudden appearance of a large predator, rearing and bucking in a nerve shattering panic and making even more of an uproar than what was already there by the girl standing in the middle of the street. The car slammed on it's brakes, a shrill screech of metal on metal as it tried to stop but it wasn't quick enough. I saw her shaggy head shake side to side and then she jumped across the entire car and onto the hood of the next one. The elegantly dressed man and woman inside screamed as they came face to face with a set of white fangs before Luna leaped off, but Clair clung to her back the entire time like a small silent jockey on top of a horse. 

"Luna, over here!" I jogged over to the nearby entrance of an alley that ran behind a section of the tall buildings and waved my arms. Her fuzzy ears flicked and she came bounding in three strides, sailing past me in a single smooth motion of silky wheat fur. Mrs. Ernestine started to hobble after us, her cane quickly clacking against the cobblestone pavement as she followed along at a much slower pace. It wasn't far before I found Luna backed into a crevice between two buildings, the shadows camouflaging all but her gleaming gold eyes in the dark. "Baby girl, that was totally awesome! You're so brave to run out in traffic like that! We need to take you to Queen for a medal, saving a kid's life is no joke you know?"

Luna blinked her eyes, completely vanishing for a moment into the darkness before they reappeared with a shy glow glancing down to the ground. 

"That young lady is especially brave." Mrs. Ernestine puffed as she hobbled up the street, her face and slightly wrinkled cheeks reddened from the effort and leaning heavily on her cane for support as she made it the last few steps towards us. Clair immediately detached herself from Luna and came running out of the shadows to latch on to her guardian's long dark skirts. "You have my internal gratitude for rescuing Clair. Is there anything I could do to repay you, Ms. Iselda?"

A deep rumbling growl that sound like a muffled attempt at someone saying wait before I was temporary blinding by a flash of white light nearly as bright as a lightning strike. I covered my eyes with my arm till it faded, leaving only Luna's golden eyes floating in a slightly higher position than before. "Umm... If I might could borrow some clothing... that would be the only thanks I need."

"Sure thing, my heroic sweetie pie. Come on out and we'll go pick you out something nice."

There was a beat of silence for a moment as her eyes stayed questioningly on mine. Then a soft tug on my hand brought my attention down to where Mrs. Ernestine was trying and failing to disguise an amused smile. "Mr. Barbicane, I think Ms. Iselda is trying to say that she needs clothing now because she is lacking a few essential pieces of wardrobe." 

"Just a dress would be fine, don't worry about shoes. I'm used to walking barefoot." Luna whispered.

I had to resist the urge to smack my hand against my forehead. Of course she couldn't come out if she was naked! Work, brain, work! "Just a second, I'll be right back!" I jogged across the street, headed straight for a ladies's shop that had a display model in the window wearing a longsleeved bright pink and white dress with puffy mushroom looking sleeves at the shoulders, a long skirt pushed out in a big bell shape with all the petticoats layered underneath it, and so many ruffles running down the outer edge of the skirt that it looked like someone had attached lasagna noodles straight to the fabric.

I rushed through the door and right up to the counter, the tiny little bells attached to the top of the door jangling in my wake. I must have startled the shopkeeper, because she had previously been holding a pair of scissors that were now laying on the floor. "Excuse me, Ma'am. I'm kinda in a rush, but could I ask your beautiful self to remove that pink and white dress you have displayed in your window for me?"

The lady adjusted her glasses with one hand and stared at me with a slightly haughty look. "It's really not our protocol to sell the items we have displayed in our window, particularly without the lady in question available for a fitting to ensure the proper adjustments are made."

"It's okay, It looks like it will fit her just fine. She's over there in the alley and we kinda messed up her regular clothes pretty bad and she needs something new to wear." I smiled.

The shopkeeper frowned in disapproval over the top edge of her glasses but left to remove the dress from the window as I had asked. Was it something I had said? Maybe she was just having a bad day. When she returned with the dress neatly folded in hand and asked for payment, I didn't really have any funds on me at the present time, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Charge it to Count Saint-Germain, please." Sainty-G wouldn't mind a bit because he was always buying little trinkets and stuff for Cardia, so I couldn't see that he would mind buying something for Luna too. The shopkeeper seemed a little satisfied at that, probably because she knew that her payment was coming from a count, but I didn't hang around long enough to find out. I jogged back across the street with the dress tucked under my arm where Mrs. Ernestine and Clair were waiting with a glowing eyed Luna still lingering in the darkness. 

"Here you go, Luna! One gorgeous dress for a gorgeous lady!" Removing the dress from my arm, I shook it out to the full length and held it out for her to see, it wasn't nearly as fluffy as it had looked on the model, but the puffed sleeves at the shoulders were still pretty large and I noticed that Luna's eyes focused directly on the longer length of the skirt and narrowed slightly in a familiar way. It looks like I've got another ruffle hater on my hands.

"It's... got ruffles... and it's really long." She drawled after a moment, but with a heavy sigh, she seamed resigned to her fate. A slender pale hand emerged from the shadows as she accepted the pink and white dress. A few moments later, and a lot of toe tapping later, she emerged fully dressed and frowning slightly as her hands nervously fluttered around the long skirt tangling around her legs, the visible bulge of her tail twitching beneath the draped fabric. 

"Looks awesome, babe! You're a total beauty!" I smiled so hard that my eyes squished up, my fingers folded up to give her a thumbs up. 

"Indeed, Mr. Barbicane is telling the truth. You do look lovely my dear." Mrs. Ernestine's wrinkled face crinkled up into a happy smile. Luna still didn't seem convinced as she peeked up shyly through her lashes. Seemingly sensing the mood, Clair detached herself from where she had been clinging to Mrs. Ernestine's skirts and went running full speed towards Luna who swept up the little girl in her arms, Clair's arms tightly wrapping around her neck as she hugged her savior, her doll tucked underneath her arm and pressed against Luna's right shoulder.

Once I had Luna's assurance that she was okay again, we set off to where Mrs. Ernestine had left her car after it had broken down. It was still sitting exactly where she had left it just a little ways down from where I had originally parked our car, steam still rising from the hood and just waiting for my mechanical magic to take place.

While I tinkered with the motor on their automobile, Mrs. Ernestine, Clair, and Luna all lingered in the shade of an alley so that they wouldn't burn up in the strong summer sunlight. However, I could certainly feel the heat beating down on my back as I finished up the little tune up with a few quick turns of my wrench and replaced the grill. The engine flared to life just as soon as I flipped the switch and I smiled in triumph. "Another crisis solved by the incredibly brilliant Mr. Impey." I called over to where the girls were standing, partially catching sight of where Luna had pulled her skirt aside enough that her tail could peak out and the fluffy tip twitched teasingly for Clair to chase. The little girl seemed delighted by her newfound toy because she was all smiles and giggles as she reached for it with happily wriggling fingers. 

"Thank you so much for fixing the old girl, Mr. Barbicane." Mrs. Ernestine hobbled over to appreciatively pat the door of the automobile. "We old girls need a little maintenance now and again to make sure we run correctly."

"Aw, Mrs. E. You're not old, you're a classic." I planted a kiss on her cheek that sent her giggling just like Clair did as Luna picked her up. With their automobile now fixed, Mrs. Ernestine and Clair departed to return back to the orphanage, leaving me and Luna alone on the sidewalk to walk back to where Fran and Grumpy Glasses waited a couple streets over.

"Clair was a little cutie, wasn't she?" I slightly glanced out of the corner of my eye to see Luna lightly blushing as she walked. "You're really good with kids."

"She reminded me of my little sister a lot." Was the only reply I was given before she paused and her body stiffened straight like she had been shocked by lightning. Underneath their shield of the ribbon, her ears threatened to raise up and break free of their bonds while her eyes scanned the people lazily drifting by. "Impey, do you see him? That one there?" My gaze followed her outstretched figure of a familiar dark robed person slinking into the shadows of a dark alley. "He's dressed like one of the kidnappers."

"Yeah, I see him. Let's go see what he's up too." I reached down and laced my fingers with hers as we jogged across the street in pursuit of the goon. By the time we had crossed, he had vanished into a big rundown building flagged condemned by the yellow sign nailed to the door, but the wooden plank that should have been barring the door was removed completely, leaving it free for anyone to enter. Glancing over my shoulder to Luna, she gave me a silent encouraging nod to go ahead and we both slunk inside.

Inside the building seemed to be a stash of stolen goods. Large wooden crates and boxes were stacked here and there, some odd pieces of metal laying around in all sizes and shapes, and my nose wrinkled at the bitter tinge of gunpowder lingering in the air. Six of the dark wrapped goons were gathered around the table while more filtered around throughout the building.

I crouched down behind a large crate, cautiously watching the goons gathered around a particular point of interest on a lone table. What were they doing? One figure shifted slightly as something I couldn't see popped loudly and a small plume of smoke, creating a small gap where I could see what they all were so focused on.

Well, I guess it's true what they say about finding lost things in strange places.

"Impey, isn't that your device?" Luna's soft voice whispered in my ear as she leaned around my shoulder to try and get a better look at the table. I jumped a little bit in surprise at her sudden appearance, she was so quiet that I hadn't even heard her sneak across.

"Yeah, it sure looks like it. I wonder what they're doing with it?" I eased up just a little bit, reaching out my right hand to steady myself against the crate-

CRASH

Oh, crap!

All six goons spun around to face where the crate I had just barely laid my hand on had fallen forward and smashed completely on the ground around my feet, each one drawing long silver sabers as more filtered out from wherever they had been. "Looks like it's a fight brewing up, Luna. Don't worry, Mr. Impey will protect you." I shuffled on my feet, drawing up to a light boxer's stance as the first of the goons started charging forward with his sword swinging. He didn't get far because I flipped him around and sent him charging back into the others, creating kind of a human obstacle course as they scrambled into each other to try and avoid the one I sent back. 

"Impey, go on and get your device! I'll be fine!" As if to prove her statement, Luna clocked one of the goons with a lighting fast right hook to the jaw, sending him down into an unconscious heap at her feet which she neatly stepped over with dancer like grace before moving on to brutally cut down the next one.

"Awesome job, Luna baby!" I cheered while dodging a swipe aimed for my head, sending a spinning kick back with enough force that it sent the goon flying into one of his companions before he hit the floor. "The incredible Mr. Impey is sure to succeed with you at his side. Then, I was off. A kicking, spinning whirlwind of movement that these guys just couldn't keep up with. I was almost to the table when my fist smashed into a face and I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I spun, kicking away a goon that was trying to grab me, and saw a hunched figure in a dark cape slinking towards where Luna was totally kicking ass on her own. A flash of silver emerged beneath the cape and a quick flash of alarm raced through my veins as Luna lifted the goon she was fighting and tossed him a few feet away, placing her face to muzzle with the gun pointed in her direction.

"Hello, love." The voice purred and I knew who it was instantly. The scarred man that resembled Lupin swept back his cape, revealing dull golden eyes glittering bright with hatred and red rutted scars twisted up into a malicious grin. "It's been a long time, hasn't it Luna dearest?"

"What in the hell are you doing here, Remus? Shouldn't you be out running your little black market experiments for a few measly coins?" I was shocked at the vicious growl that laced my darling's words as she looked positively ready to rip Remus apart from seam to seam. The whistle of air moving alerted me to something approaching me from behind and I kicked out directly behind me, catching a goon in the stomach with a powerful blow that sent the air rushing from his body in a loud whoosh as he skittered across the floor. That's when it hit me, the guy that Luna fell in love and betrayed her must be the this guy.

"Oh, Luna. Dear sweet naive Luna. How greatly you underestimate the importance of my work." The lord chuckled as he circled around Luna like a predator circling prey. "I have found myself in need of the device that your newest little boyfriend has created. A Gravity Alleviator to lift the future of London into the sky! The Nautilus II will raze this town and build a world fit for a true ruler, me!" He cackled into the air. 

Man, what a crackpot! We must have some kind of wackjob attractant to keep finding guys like this. 

I quickly glanced over at Luna and saw that the fierce woman who I had seen hand Van Helsing's ass to him on a silver platter was frozen motionless at the sight of the creepy Lord Remus guy cackling with whatever crazy-ass plan he had concocted up in that twisted head of his. Her eyes were blazing bright with anger, a deep rumbling growl shifting from her throat while her hands clawed at the air at her sides, but she didn't move forward at all. She seemed to be frozen motionless, snarling viciously, but motionless as Remus continued to advance on her.

A goon scrambled to stand up like he was going to stop me. "Beat it, you bastard!" I hissed with a little more anger than what normally powers my attacks and kicked the goon standing in my way in the face, sending him sprawling across the ground while I hopped over him and took off at a dead run. The last one was holding my device seemed a bit surprised to see me moving so fast, so I bet it was a real shock when my left foot suddenly connected with his stomach followed by my fist to his chin. The device fell freely from his hands to mine, and then I was gone, kicking and spinning my way towards Luna. A violent surge of blazing anger adding speed to my steps before Remus could lay one crooked finger on her.

I was too slow.

I had the device in my hand, but Remus had my heart in his. His arm had wrapped around her throat and pulled her body towards his, pointing the muzzle of the pistol he had pulled from a pocket in his vest right against her temple, the freed tawny strands of her hair crushed against the cold bite of the metal and her ears laid flat alongside her head in sheer terror. He had one arm wrapped around her throat, an easy position for him to snap her neck if he had the strength. I doubted he did, but the gun more than made up for his bent body's lack. "Give me the device right now, you useless bloodsucking leech!" 

"Impey, don't!" Luna tried to warn me despite the gun jabbed into her skull. Her eyes were so big and round, pure fear glistening in the depths of the bright gold and it drove invisible daggers right through my heart. 

"If you don't, then the bitch loses her life." The cruel smirk twisted the jagged scars on his face like tangled brambles. His arm pressed tighter against her throat and she gagged for air, her eyes squinching up tight as small tears of pain leaked from the corners. The faint iron tinged scent of blood drifted up as her sharp nails clawed deep into his arms, but Remus didn't show the first hint of letting her go. 

It didn't matter what he called me, I've heard more insults than I could count, but I couldn't let him harm her, not for anything in the world. So it was an easy decision to toss my invention towards the black robed minion at his side. "Here, take it! I don't need it anyway." 

"You're a stupid fool!" Remus giggled like a madman, dropping the gun from Luna's head and sending her stumbling forward with a shove right between her shoulders. I caught her and pulled her tight against me, her arms wrapped around my chest like a vise and I could feel the wetness of her tear soaked eyes against my shirt. "Kill them!" 

"Hold on tight, baby doll!" Flashing a quick smile, I reached down and swept her up in my arms. She clung on tight to my neck and gave a small squeak of surprise when her legs left the ground, but I was already running through the door at breakneck speed. If they want to kill us, let's see how fast those assholes can run!


	9. Chapter 9 - Friends, Memories, and the Beginning of War

~Luna~

We were running.

Correction, Impey was running with me held tight to his chest as he tried his best to keep any of Remus's men who drew too close away. I peeped across his shoulder, my fingers digging in to the thick muscles of his shoulders, and growled when I saw how close that they were coming. Barely only a few yards away, the men were doing a decent job of keeping up with a vampire's speed, but I wasn't complementing them by any means.

"Van, get your guns ready! We're coming in hot!" I smashed my hands over the tucked down portions of my ears as Impey suddenly bellowed out into the open air ahead. I hadn't realized that we were so close to the where the others were, but I twisted my neck around to see that the blonde soldier was standing at the rear of Impey's automobile with his weapons already in hand, quickly firing off a shot that burned through the air and knocked out one of the goons in a rolling bundle of dark fabric. I flinched at the sudden loudness of rain of gunfire as Van snapped off round after round, effectively providing us with a protective shield of cover fire while Fran was bent double over the side of the automobile with a thin curl of greyish colored smoke wreathing around his head foretelling of the explosion to come.

With a careful grace that defied the urgency of the situation, Impey placed my body in the passenger's seat before sliding into the driver's side and flicking the automobile's motor into life. Van Helsing and Fran had both climbed in the rear, the soldier leaned over the back side with a precise aim that left more of Remus's men tumbling to the ground than it missed, and Fran tossed small glass vials filled with a peculiar light green liquid that would burst into a cloud of green colored smoke once the glass broke upon contact. Keeping my hands pressed over my ears, I sank down into the cradle of the seat with my knees drawn up to my chest. Why is it that every time Remus was around, he destroyed things? This was supposed to be a peaceful shopping outing, but instead it was small war in the streets of London.

And me, stupid, useless me, could have ended it all by killing him.

I could have thrown him across the room before he had ever drawn that gun from his pocket. I could have ripped his arms from their sockets when he grabbed me. I could even have bit his throat when he trapped me in his arms and held the gun to my head. Any of it would have been faster than he could have fired. But no, I let him pull me around like a doll _again_ and Impey lost his invention for good this time due to it. I felt the tears hot and thick drip out from under my eyelashes and splatter down on the material of the dress. The dress that Impey had bought for me when I needed it with money he didn't need to waste on me. And the only thing I had done to repay him was make him lose one of the most important things to him to a madman who would destroy London if given the chance.

God, I was such an idiot.

"Luna, we're home." A tentative finger poked my leg twice before retreating. I raised my head up and looked into Impey's emerald eyes glistening with concern as he looked like he wanted to squeeze me in a protective hug, but he didn't. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I scrubbed a hand across my eyes, gazing towards the back seating to see that Van Helsing and Fran were now gone and we were alone in front of Saint Germain's mansion. "Where did Van and Fran go?"

"They went to round up everyone so that we could tell them what we learned about Remus. You don't have to worry about a thing if you need to be alone for right now. I'll only tell them the basic of what you told me and not anything about your past if you don't want me too. Remus is a crazy ass wackjob who's going to try and take over London with my Gravity Allevator. Your just another victim of fate like Cardia. We'll help you with anything you need us too."His smile made my heart ache from the simple sweetness of the gesture.

If only the truth was that simple.

They deserved to know the truth and I had no doubt in my mind that if anyone could stop Remus in his madness, it would be all of my new friends who surely wouldn't be so stupid to let a chance go by like I did. "No, I'm going." I said, giving a definitive nod of my head.

Impey arched an eyebrow in surprise. "You sure, sweetie? Okay then. Let's go."

We exited the car and walked into the mansion, the front entrance glowing softly with the orange light of the sun filtering in through the windows reflecting off the rich polished wooden walls and flooring. I could hear the soft bustle of voices hidden deeper inside the mansion, gathered in the parlor outside the kitchen but slightly muffled enough that I couldn't hear the exact speech from the overlapping voices. The owners turned out to Saint, Lupin, and Cardia who each frequently commented over the quick explanation that Fran glossed over while waiting for the others. I settled on one of the ornate sofas and Impey settled close but not to close, his legs bouncing in a slight rhythm as he waited for the others.

Delacroix was the next to arrive, his arms cradling a struggling Sisi who had something suspiciously metallic cradled in his jaws. On sight, Impey let out a small yelp and went rushing forward to retrieve the part from the corgi's jaws, the metal now slightly bearing the imprint of teeth marks. Cardia giggled slightly before the mood faded, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Instead, I twisted my hands deeper into the longer fabric of my dress's skirt to hide the nervous shake of my hands, dreading with every bone in my body the moment that was to come. Van Helsing was the last to arrive as he had been in the process of a security sweep of the mansion to make sure that there was no unwanted threats before everything bloomed into view. I barely heard Impey as he described the start of the tale with Clair's rescue till the ending with Remus's men chasing us, Remus's mad rantings and the device that was now in his control. Van Helsing pronounced him a mad idiot, something that Saint ever so tactfully agreed with, but there was more to the story than what they knew.

"There's more to it than that." I said, lifting my eyes up to meet the seven pairs of shocked orbs that were gazing my way. I sucked in a deep breath, my chest suddenly too tight to speak but I squeaked out the first of the long bloody history that needed to be spilled. "Remus is a madman, that's certainly true. But he wasn't always that way. He was full of dreams once, a young boy who wanted to help his mother find happiness after too many years of bitterness."

"You sound like you knew him personally." I didn't imagine the suspicion that clouded Van Helsing's violet eyes or the sudden straightening of Lupin's spine as he leaned slightly forward with interest.

I nodded my head slowly. "I did. We were once lovers."

"I take it from your tone of voice that you are not now?" Saint inclined his head to the side with his question, the slightest glimmer of sharp icy blue eyes showing through the slit of his droopy eyelids.

"No, and I haven't been for a long time. Perhaps I should start at the beginning. My family was my pack. A poor one compared to others and with most of our members being advanced in their years. We had settled and made a village of our own, away from the humans who scorned and threatened us if we drew too near. One day, a man appeared. One Issac Beckford who admitted to us that he wished to study us in the hopes of curing some incurable disease and we agreed."

"My father studied you?" Cardia asked with a soft curiosity that was almost child-like.

"Yeah, your dad and Twilight really did a number on Luna's family. They killed them all and this Remus guy was part of it. Luna said before that- Mpnhf!" I clapped my hand over Impey's ever babbling mouth. His eyes stretched wide as a subtle snickering rolled from the audience behind me as I ignored the soft brush of his lips against the skin of my palm.

"Impey, if you don't mind. I'd like to explain it."

He nodded eagerly, shaking my hand loose from his mouth and a few floppy strands of his bangs falling down into his eyes from where they had been dislodged by his goggles. "No problem, Luna baby!"

"Like Impey said, my family was used in Issac Beckford's studies. I don't know how much any of you are aware of, but there has always been a persistent rumor that Werewolves have magic. It's a lie of course, but that was motive that Issac operated under. First they gathered samples of our blood, but when that yielded nothing then they went for our flesh, our bones, taking samples of our very marrow just to see if we had any magic whatsoever. Then they made us turn, over and over until we could barely even had the strength to blink. But still we were proud to help what we thought was a noble cause. We suffered it all with a smile because we though we were doing a good deed..." I trailed off as the next blood soaked memory flooded to the fore. "Then one night while we were sleeping, an entire league of Twilight came and attacked us under the command of Remus and someone else I didn't know. A shorter blonde man with different color eyes."

"Finis, he was my brother." Cardia interjected softly, her normally vibrant green eyes darkened with the shadows of the past.

"Finis," I repeated, licking my lips to get rid of the taste of the murderer's name on my lips. "My father was the first to sound the alarm, but it was too late. One by one, each member of our pack fell to the blades of Twilight, some shifted to a wolf, some still human, and others partially trapped in between. My mother shoved my sister Syrena in my arms and told me to run before she was ran through the chest with a sword. I pushed Syrena onto my shoulders, her arms clinging to my neck so tightly while I shredded the Twilight soldier who killed my mother with my bare hands and any other who dared to come near us. But even I couldn't avoid the blades for long. I couldn't turn quick enough to avoid the blade aimed for my back, the one that skewered Syrena right through her heart as she fell off my back. My brother Fenris came bounding to help me finish off the soldiers before he returned to my father's side who was fighting half shifted. My father yelled at me to run, but I kept trying to wake up Syrena but she was already cold. Then Remus showed up, just smirking at all the carnage and then he stepped on her, and- and I just _exploded_! My fangs, claws, anything I could use I turned on him and attack till he was nothing more than a bloody bundle. Then some minion of his jabbed a needle in my neck till I passed out and that's when I woke up in one of his family's fighting rings."

"So, it's true that the young Lord Hasting is involved with all sorts of black market activities? Somehow I am not surprised to hear that at all." Saint idly commented. Being a noble, I am not surprised that he had heard the rumors of Remus's family, but the true extant of their reach had been kept in the shadows.

"From what I know, Remus's family first started with dog and chicken fighting rings, collecting the bets on the winners and discarding the losers. Somehow along the way, that translated into violent boxing and fighting matches that pulled in even more money till Remus started with the subraces fighting. The amount of people willing to bet their savings on a battling pair of vampires vs. werewolves or any other pair he could kidnap was just too great of a challenge to miss, even more so when it was a life or death fight. Plus he didn't have to worry about the consequences because who was going to make an investigation for a mission person that wasn't human. I had to fight to live, the winner eating the loser so that we could... could live but it wasn't any kind of life at all!" I finished off as a thick wad of tears choked the words from my throat, the same substance as the tears that streamed from my eyes like water. I couldn't speak about the rest of it, the abuse, the endless days of praying for death.

"Babe, you don't have to finish. We get it." Impey's fingers grazed softly against the curve of my elbow and I raised my head to glance at everyone. Van Helsing had dropped his gaze to the floor, crystalline violet eyes slashing through floor as his knuckles were clenched tight in his lap. Cardia had turned her face into the security of Lupin's neck, the gentleman thief's arm wrapped securely around his bride's shoulders while he placed a comforting kiss to the top of her chocolate curls. Delly had buried his face into the scruff of Sisi's neck, Fran having placed a comforting arm around the young monarch's shoulders and trying to hide his own sadness. Saint gazed stoically at the floor as well, one slender leg draped elegantly at the knee over his other, but his relaxed stance was at odds with the firm press of his lips together until they were a nearly bloodless white. 

I swiped the back of my hand over my cheeks to brush away the tears before I finished the final portion of the story. "There is something I have been meaning to ask you, Lupin. Do you have any brothers?"

The thief looked slightly surprised at that question. "A brother? I wouldn't know really. I was an orphan. So I don't know the exact history of my family but I suppose it is possible that one exists."

"Remus does resemble you quite a bit, and when I first met you, I had mistaken you for him. I had just wondered about the possibility was all. Remus had said that his father ran off with a vampire lady, or sometimes a werewolf, gargoyle, or whatever subrace suited his story at the time. Whatever events truly happened in the past, it fed his hatred of the subraces most desperately. Although he had mentioned once that his mother was guilty as well. So it had made me wonder if the two of you were related was all." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Do you know what Remus wants to do with the Gravity Alleviator besides what he babbled off?" Van Helsing asked.

I shook my head again, a few strands of my hair now dangling freely about my shoulders from the movement. "I know he wants to rebuild the Nautilus or most likely has by now, and the Gravity Alleviator is a precise part of that from what I heard."

"Without it, the ship would be too large and heavy to fly, correct?" Saint Germain's elegantly voiced question hit the bullseye perfectly.

Impey spoke up to answer that question. "Yeah, that's right. But if he does have both my recreation and the old man's device, he would need something like the Horologium to provide the massive loads of energy needed to power the devices."

Cardia's hand fluttered up to her chest where the gems now laid inactive beneath her blouse. "But they have no power anymore."

My mind clicked with something Impey said, a puzzle piece that I wasn't quite sure of the shape, but it was snapping together regardless. "Impey something _like_ your Horologium, Cardia, not the exact gem. As brilliant as Remus is, I'm sure he has come up with something to power the ship by now. Especially since he had the majority of Issac's notes as his research assistant."

"Then the question is can we stop it?" The gentle doctor gazed up to meet my eyes.

"That's something I don't know." I lifted my hands helplessly and let them fall back on my lap. I didn't have the slightest idea on how to stop him.

With the shades of the conversation turning to possible theories of this and that scenario on how to stop him, plus who needed to be notified with this information at hand, I had found myself slumping against Impey's shoulder as a means of support while a thick weariness weighed down my body. He was so warm and comfortable, so safe, that I wanted more of that feeling and crawled directly in his lap, curling against his chest like a small child. What was even more amazing was that as the others were actively discussing how best to approach the situation and who to notify with their concerns next after the queen herself and a man named Renfield, Impey remained quiet and simply brushed his lips across the top of my head from time to time. The scent of motor oil and cloves was so thick on his skin but also so comforting as well as his finger carefully trailed through my hair, his heart so steadily beating in my ears like a soothing drum that soon lulled me to sleep in the gentle warmth of his hold.


	10. Chapter 10 - Nightmares and Cuddles

~Impey~

I'm gonna need some of Fran's special knockout drugs before this night is over.

At first I thought it was the hardest thing in the world from keeping a safe distance away from Luna when she was so crying so softly in the seat of my car, but then when she spoke up and told the others about her past and the abuse she suffered, and maybe I was a sobbing mess myself but all I wanted so desperately wanted was just to pick her up and give her the best supportive hug I could, but I didn't. I didn't want to scare her any more than what she already was. 

And then came the killer.

At first it was just her head leaning against my shoulder, her cheek was so cool against my bare shoulder. Then she crawled cat-like into my lap and folded her herself right up against my chest, close enough that just her sweet scent was making my head all dizzy like I had drunk a little too much of Sainty-G's antique wine, except that she was so much better than a bottle of old grape juice. I was constantly repeating to myself to be gentle and quiet, but occasionally I couldn't stop myself from pressing a little kiss to the top of her head and trailing my fingers through the soft strands of her hair. Luckily she didn't seem to mind, she even gave the cutest little snuffle and buried her face deeper into my neck. How could this much cuteness even be legal?

"Well, it seems that someone is quite taken with you, Impey." I looked up to see Saint smiling his same happy but kinda-creepy Saint smile. "After everything that she has been through, I would hate to ask this of her, but I believe that once I relay our information to her highness in the morning, I believe that Queen Victoria would most certainly like to speak with Ms. Luna about her past and what she might know about Lord Hasting and his diabolical plans."

"But she's already told all that she knows! All it would do is make her hurt worse because of all the bad stuff that's happened to her already." I insisted. Why couldn't they understand that? 

"Saint is right," Van Helsing nodded solemnly in agreement. "Even though the woman has already repeated her story to us, by the time we could repeat it to the Queen, some small detail might have unintentionally changed that could have some important meaning. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure the Queen has questions of her own to ask, and the Marquis himself would be quite interested in what she had to say as well."

"But still..." I gazed down at her sweet little face, one ear twitching beneath her ribbon hairband and her lips and brow now wrinkled in a little puckered frown. She started whimpering softly in her sleep, a small sound that reminded me a bit of Sisi when he was having a nightmare.

"Impey, maybe you should take her up to her room and let her sleep." Cardia's soft suggestion was useful, but it also set off another series of worries. Could I pick her up without it waking her up?

"Yeah, I guess I will." Trying to keep from shaking her as much as I could, I wound my arms around her back and under her knees, lifting her up like the princess she was without getting so much as a whimper. As I walked out of the room, I could hear Lupin and Cardia discussing possible locations that Remus could hide a thing like a rebuilt Nautilus in London. The original skeleton of the Nautilus that crashed into London was built into buildings and homes for the citizens and wouldn't be able to fly if it needed to. I should know because I helped rebuilt parts of it myself, but even after all the destruction was repaired, I couldn't help but shiver at the thought of one ripping apart London like it did before and all of the innocent people who would be hurt. 

One crucial member would be missing though, Nemo was still in jail on a life's sentence after his part in all of Issac's plans. I kinda felt bad for the guy because he was brilliant, even if he was completely wacked out of his gourd. He just got mixed up with some bad people. 

I was almost to Luna's room when she started shifting in my arms, tiny little growling noises coming from deep in her throat, and I could feel her nails starting to pinch into my neck. Ouch! Yeah, actually more than a little. Her nails were really sharp.

"Remus....." She growled again, a deep rumbling sound like thunder and her tail slapped hard enough against my arm still stung that even through the layer of her skirt. I hissed a breath through my teeth and she growled in response, her legs starting to twitch like she was running. I bumped the door to her room open with my hip, barely avoiding her hand coming up like she was intending to scratch off my face before I was able to gently place her body across the surface of the bed. She rolled around with her arms and legs flailing, fighting whatever opponent was in her dreams. "Get away... Killer..."

"Whoa!" I ducked a punch that would have really rung my bells, dropping down to my knees beside the bed. Luna was still twisting and turning, nearly falling off the bed herself till I wrapped one arm around her waist. I didn't want to hurt her or scare her, especially while she was sleeping, but I didn't want her to fall off the bed either. So I climbed onto the bed and folded myself around her, removing my arm and not actually making contact with her enough that it might cause her to panic, but just close enough that she could tell I was there. It must have worked better than I thought because she shuffled right over and curled up against me, burying her head against my chest and I could feel a little bit of wetness starting to leak from around her eyes. "Shh.. Shh... It's alright. Don't cry. It's gonna be okay." I lightly trailed my fingers down her back to soothe away the awful dreams.

"Hmnn... Impey?" Her eyes fluttered open, the droplets of her tears cling to the ends of her lashes like tiny little jewels. Her fearful expression quickly twisted into one of concern as the full realization of how she had gotten here came into play. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, Impey. I didn't mean to hurt you... and cry on you. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright with me." I shrugged. "I don't mind a few tears, especially when they're from a beautiful lady like yourself, but I do want to know what made you so sad so that we can give it the ole one-two in the future?" 

She laughed, a dry sound that had no joy in it whatsoever. I didn't like that sound on her. Her real laugh was much too pretty to be abused like this. "I hate this, Impey. I hate being weak, and crying all the time. I'm useless. I wish I could be strong like you and Van Helsing, or Saint and Cardia, or just any of the others." She dropped her head, breaking her gaze with me.

I propped one finger underneath her chin so that she would look at me again. "Luna, you're not weak. Far from it actually. You say I'm the one that's strong, but to me. You are the strongest person I know. To go through what you went thorough and still be here living your life is more important than being physical strong anytime. Every time you smile or laugh, that shows how strong you are." She giggled and I tapped my finger against her cheek. "Just like that."

Her eyes dropped for a moment but then flashed back up, her hand raising up to rest against my neck with the tips of her fingers grazing through my hair. "Do you mind if I touch your hair? It always looks so soft and I've wanted to touch it for awhile."

She wanted to touch my hair? No problem at all! I reached a hand around my back and pulled off the band holding the end of my braid together, ruffling the ends of my fingers through the woven edges of my braid till it had all come loose and fell freely down my back. I settled over onto my stomach with my hands propped under my chin, the perfect position to gaze at her sweet face. "Go for it, babe! You've got my permission."

She giggled again, a sweet but tired smile creasing her lips as she lifted her hand and repeatedly stroked her hands down from the top of my head down nearly to my shoulders. It wasn't long before I noticed that she was quickly growing sleepy again, her eyes nearly shutting as her hand's movement almost stopped completely. I started to move, intending to sneak away and give her a little privacy, but when I started to tuck her hand back against her side, her eyes snapped back open. "Impey, would you stay with me? Just for tonight?" She whispered softly and a little shyly, almost like she was expecting me to refuse her or something.

"Awesome, I'd love too." I settled back down in the bed and kissed her forehead, her pretty cheeks quickly blushing red in embarrassment. It wasn't long before her eyes fully fluttered shut for good this time and I watched her sleep, too excited to do anything like sleeping myself. Sometime later, she started twitching again like she was in pain. So I took her hand and gently kissed her palm, placing it over my heart so maybe it would sooth her just a little bit. It seemed to work because she settled down into a softer sleep, the barest hint of a smile on her lips that I hope was the result of a good dream instead of a bad one.

Maybe I couldn't erase the scars of her past, but God willing I was going to make her future the best thing she had ever seen!


	11. Chapter 11 - The wind, skies, and lemon pie

~Luna~

I woke up to the first of the sun's warm rays slanting through the glass panes of my window, bathing the exposed portion of my back in a gentle warmth. I shuffled against the blankets laying over my body and reached out a hand to the opposite side of the bed. Where I had been expecting the warmth of another body, it was now cold but the crisp material of a small note met my fingertips. Where was Impey? I distinctly remembered last night and his beaming smile when I asked him to stay with me. I had assumed that he would still be here when I woke up. I blinked again, the sun's light almost too bright for my sleep hazed eyes as I looked to the note in my hand for the answer to my question. 

_Luna,_

_Good morning, light of my life! Sorry I couldn't be there the moment you lifted up those sparkling little golden eyes of yours. Don't worry though, I'm not that far away. Just down in the kitchen actually. Everyone was up and about a little earlier than normal and I went down to fix up a little breakfast for everyone before Mr. Grumpy Four-Eyes could reach my kitchen and poison us all with his cooking. You were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want you to wake up or freak out because I was gone. Come on down when you wake up and I'll fix you a Mr. Impey special breakfast._

_Impey_

I smiled before placing the note on the table beside the bed, tipping my head back to catch the salty scent of something meaty cooking. My stomach growled a little bit, reminding me that I hadn't eaten yet. I slid from the bed and rushed through a shower, the scent of Impey's cooking following me even then. I started to wonder if he was trying to lure me down with the tantalizing promise of food almost like I had seen him do with Sisi when the small dog was in one of his pouty moods. It was extremely sweet of him to leave the note so that I wouldn't be concerned when he wasn't where I had expected him to be. A warm chuckle pushed up in my throat as I stepped out of the bath and dried my hair, once again thinking about the smile on his face when I had asked him to stay with me instead of focusing on the darker memories of my mind. Impey had seemed so happy to perform such a small thing, even though it had felt like I a challenge to me to even voice my desire not to be alone anymore. 

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and ruffled my fingers through the now dry strands of my hair till everything fell into place. I crossed over to the large wooden wardrobe that held the mysteriously appearing clothing that frequently filled the interior. Both the furniture and it's contents had emerged from somewhere one day while I was out, I suspected Impey or Saint Germain was responsible for the wardrobe itself, and the same two as well again for the clothing inside. However, on some pieces I could still detect Cardia's scent like that piece had belonged to her for a time or she had kept it for an extended period around herself. 

Quickly thumbing through the articles, I selected a long sleeved white blouse in a similar style to the green one I had ruined yesterday, a black corset, and a shorter softly layered chocolate brown skirt that felt silky soft to my touch. There was a spare pair of boots similar to the ones I had favored before and I was able to find a pair of black stockings to match. I regretted the loss of my newly favorite outfit but not at the risk that it would have come if I had not saved the little girl from her death. Clair, I believe Impey had called her. 

Once dressed and ready, I walked downstairs with the delicious scent growing ever stronger. Sisi looked up from his own breakfast as I entered the dining room, pausing for a moment to reach down and offer my hand to him where he tenderly nuzzled his muzzle into my palm before returning to his meal. I continued on into the kitchen, following the thick scent of frying meat to the source. Impey stood in front of the stove, carefully turning over a portion of meat sizzling in a pan over the heat. It smelled like ham, it I had to guess.

"Good morning, Impey." I said while peering over his shoulder, glancing at the small carefully carved portions of pinkish meat rapidly turn a crispy brown around the edges while under the influence of the heat. "That smells really good."

"Morning, honey bunch! I see you couldn't resist the temptation of Mr. Impey's special breakfast could you?" Taking a small metal spatula in hand, he removed the slices of seared pork from the pan and lifted it over to the side where two places rested bearing a small mound of perfectly yellow scrambled eggs, coin sized rounds of fluffy round pancakes dripping with a small pat of butter on top, and the most surprising of all was the slices of fresh oranges lingering on the side like a smile. Taking both plates in hand with the expert grace of one who carried filled places very often, he bowed and presented me with each one like it a jewel waiting to be appraised. "Tah-Dah! Mr. Impey's special just for the beautiful princess of his heart!"

"It looks delicious!" 

"And it tastes as good as it looks. Come on and grab a seat with me." I followed in his wake as we walked into the dining room. "I've got a special surprise for you afterwards." 

With my curiosity peaked, I devoured his breakfast and was proud to say that it was truly as tasty as it looked. That curiosity only peaked as once we were finished, he led me outside to his studio to a large lumpish item stationed slightly behind the building and covered with a large tan canvas.

"Wait till you see this baby!" He jogged over to a corner of the unidentifiable object which a grin so large that his own face was nearly split in half. Whatever it was, he was clearly excited about it and I half wondered if it was some portion of his plan to travel to the moon. With one swift pull, Impey flung the tarp aside and energetically spread his arms wide. "Tah-Dah! What do you think?"

Well... That was a good a question as any I suppose.

A large hunk of a deep gold colored machinery rested in the grass like a lounging bird, two giant sets of wings folded up and rested outwards from a thick joint on each side of it's back, splitting apart into individual sections that were more like the feathers of a bird. A large blue dome formed a head that may also serve as the controls and a long thick tail coiled around the base of the machine. It reminded me slightly of a dragonfly, an oversized mechanical dragonfly, but still the shape was similar to the insect in question. "It's... very... shiny and large?" I finally mumbled out, really I was at a loss for anything else to say.

"It's an Orinthopter! A real flying machine just like an airship, but different." Impey lovingly patted the blueish dome. "And as a special treat, you're going to be Mr. Impey's copilot while we fly today!"

My ears twitched and twisted with apprehension, but I followed him alongside the machine where he bounced about with a cheerful enthusiasm that I didn't quite share at the moment while preparing the machine for it's journey. Once ready, Impey offered me his hand as we stepped inside the machine that I wasn't quite sure was going to fly as he had previously stated. The interior was cramped to say the least, an extremely tight fit with two bodies squeezed inside. Impey slid into the captain's seat while I opted to remain standing beside him, watching his fingers flick expertly over a series of buttons and levers before he turned to me and flashed a winning smile. "Ready to go?"

"I guess so." The words had just left my lips when Impey's foot stepped down on a pedal on the flooring, producing a great cloud of light grey smoke from the rear of the machine. Then pumping with a jerky grinding motion that eventually shifted into a series of smooth flaps, the great wings heaved and created a breeze that whipped around my face and body, tearing loose a few strands of my hair from it's ribbon. I tucked my tail against my legs and my ears flat against my head, my nails sinking slightly into the padded surface of Impey's seat as the machine groaned and shook like it was falling apart.

Then it was flying.

It was actually flying.

We were suspended in the air for a moment as his fingers maneuvered over a few more buttons before returning to the control wheel. "Don't worry about a thing, Luna. You're flying in the safe hands of Mr. Impey. Just sit back and enjoy the beautiful ride." Impey tossed a wink over his shoulder as the machine rose higher and higher into the air. The mansion below faded until it was nothing more than a small box amidst a sea of leafy green trees and lush green grass. Still, I couldn't summon the courage to remove my nails from their embedded place in the seat. I wasn't overly fond of airships, what few times I had experienced them had always left me with a severe stomach hurling motion sickness, but this time it seemed to be slightly less than I had anticipated as the Orinthopter increased in speed and sailed into a sea of white clouds ahead. 

For just a moment, I could see nothing but an endless fluffy looking white. Then it shifted and I gasped at the beautiful sight before me. The clouds glistened in the light of the sun like shimmering raindrops after a summer's storm. The deep blue sky seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction as far as I could see. The rushing of the wind had ceased to a gentle burble, and the overwhelming amount of silence was truly awe inspiring. "It's so beautiful!" I murmured in wonder, my tail twitching twice against my leg in happiness while Impey chuckled lightly.

"Isn't it? It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, second only to your heart stopping loveliness of course. I knew you'd love it. But now just imagine it at night. The moon and the stars all sparkling like little diamonds just out of your reach. The sky so dark but yet so light at the same time. It's totally gorgeous!"

If I had dared to close my eyes, I could easily picture the scenery Impey had just described to me in my mind, but I didn't dare in case I missed a single moment of this natural wonder laid out before me. A strange surge of thrilling energy rolled through my body, making me shiver and tremble like I was cold but yet I couldn't be warmer. There was no fear here, no sadness or pain. Just an endless series of beauty that had no limits. I had no reason to be afraid here, it promised. Anything was possible. 

The machine huffs and puffs a small amount of steam from time to time as Impey explained the various parts of the machinery to me. All of it went over my head though and I just watched as we drifted through the sky. Sometime later, I noticed that we had flew towards London, fluttering just above the bustling city that was completely unaware of our presence. I could see so many people just happily going about their lives, tiny little figures that almost looked like dolls except they walked along the streets and waved to their neighbors with a raised hand. The children looked even smaller than the adults, but moving much faster as they bobbed to and fro. 

Even if London did have it's problems and these people their own. I didn't want Remus to destroy all that just for the sake of his quest.

"Luna, I hate to cut this short, but we kinda need to be getting back." Impey's voice startled me out of my thoughts and I turned back to face him with a smile on my face. The regret in his eyes made me almost want to hug him, I could see that he truly hated the thought of having to leave this place.

"It's okay," I smiled shyly. "It's been the most amazing trip, almost like a dream actually. Like you said before, the power of science is truly amazing..." I licked my lips nervously, the next words I wanted to say were stuck tight in my throat as I had to resist the urge just to hide my face in my hands. "You are too for building this amazing machine." 

A blush as scarlet as his hair bloomed across his cheeks and down the expanse of his neck, but a delighted laugh bubbled from his lips. "Yeah, I am. I am the man who's going to fly to the moon after all, with my beautiful partner as well if she wants." He winked again and I happily laughed which then made his smile grow even wider. 

Compared to the beginnings of the flight, the descent seemed almost too quick as Impey's expert hands guided the machine down into a gentle landing in the grassy area that we had begun from. From the speed that we had been traveling at, I had assumed that the landing would be much more than the gentle bump against the grass that had happened. I was still smiling when Impey offered me his hand to exit the machine, but it quickly froze on my face as he started to speak a series of words that I never wanted to hear. 

"Luna, I need you to help me with something. Would you help me bake a few pies for the orphans? I wanted to take them a special summertime desert and I could really use an assistant to help me out with a few steps." Oh, no. His eyes were so big and hopeful that I instantly broke out in a fear filled cold sweat.

I held my hands up in front of my chest, taking a step backward to place a little distance between myself and the master chef. "Um.... You really don't want me near a cooking utensil, Impey. I have a bad habit of ruining anything I try to cook. Just ask Cardia, she saw me set fire to boiling water." I tried my best to convince him but it wasn't working.

"As long as you don't turn anything you cook into a deadly poison or a bomb. You've got tons of skills over the chef from hell. You'll be fine. As long as you want to, of course."

"Okay," I sighed. "But I'll think you'll regret it."

I did try to warn him, but to his credit. He never lost his smile when I accidentally started to mix too much sugar into his special pie crust recipe, or when the dough started sticking to my fingers because my fingers were too warm. I did drop a few eggshell into the egg yolks he was cooking for the lemon filling, and I'm pretty sure that much lemon rind wasn't supposed to go in the mixture. The meringue was a disaster in itself for me, but whipped up beautifully for him. Despite all the setback, the pies still turned out beautifully. The golden brown crust was crisp and flaky with a pool of creamy sweet and tart lemon filling in the center and topped with a fluffy cloud of lightly sweetened meringue. It was a successful attempt for my poor history of cooking activities, but now it was time to clean up the disaster area that I had left in my wake. 

"Impey, I'm sorry I made such a mess." I said as I swept up the coating of flour that covered the floor like a ghost had somehow exploded all over the floor itself. 

"A mess? Don't worry about a thing. Nothing great ever happens without a little mess." His voice was a little bit muffled by the clatter of the bowls he was washing in the sink. Clad in a plain white apron and up to his elbows in a sinkful of dishes submerged in a mound of soapy water, he looked adorable in my opinion. One soap encrusted finger emerged from the water to point towards the mixing bowl for the lemon filling sitting just slightly out of his reach. "Could you hand me that one?"

"Sure." I leaned the broom in my hands against the wall before reaching for the bowl myself. A few faint traces of the sweetened citrus mixture still clung to the sides of the bowl. Sharp and tangy with a coating of sweetness from the sugar and milk, the scent was so irresistible that I couldn't resist the urge to swipe my finger through the scraps and try a taste. An explosion of pure sunshine filled my mouth just as soon as my tongue met the filling on my finger. It was so good that my tail gave a little wiggle, slapping lightly against my leg.

"Taste that good?" Impey laughed at my little squeal of delight. 

"Yeah! Impey, you've got to try a taste!" I swiped my finger again through the remnants of the creamy yellow mixture and held out my finger for him, expecting him to try a taste. What I hadn't expected was for him to cap his lips around my finger, his tongue wrapping around my finger and licking clean every trace of the yellow mixture clinging to my fingertip. His fangs were sharp, lightly grazing against my skin in a ticklish sensation that was pure pleasure, never pain. Our eyes met, a blush darkening both our cheeks as a little glint of teasing showed in his eyes. His hand came up to cradle mine, his lips pressing soft open mouthed kisses to each one of my fingertips before leaving completely. 

"Thanks so much for the bite, honey bunch. That was delicious." He winked and returned back to the sink of soapy water, completely oblivious to the state he had left me in from his little display. I was openly panting as I started at my fingers in shock, trying to get my mind to process that his lips and his tongue had actually moved like that against my finger. My tail twitched restlessly against my leg and my ears were pointed so straight forward that it felt like they were being held up by strings. Though his touch was gone, the burning heat of his gaze had bored straight into my eyes, sending small shockwaves of pure heat coiling down my spine like the embers of small flames. 

"Hey, I'm sorry. Are you okay? I shouldn't have teased you like that." I faintly heard him say but I couldn't tear my gazes from my fingers. Remus had kissed me a hundred times in his lies, but there wasn't a single one of them that had carried the heat like Impey's small gesture did. Had never excited me like that. Idly, I wondered what it would be like to kiss Impey like that. He had been so gentle with me, cared for me, had done almost anything he could to make me happy. Just like the sky, maybe I needed to just let myself be what it was. 

I wasn't going to be scared anymore. 

"Luna, talk to me. Please?" I looked up to see Impey gazing at me with worry in his eyes, his hands twitching to reach out and touch me, but holding back because he was afraid he would startle me. I tried to meet his eyes but couldn't, more butterflies adding to the swarm that was already fluttering through my stomach, but I reached up with a trembling hand and cupped his jaw against my palm. His skin was soft and smooth, and I couldn't help but give an experimental stroke along his jawline with my thumb. If it was possible, I think his already widened eyes grew even bigger with the movement and his lips started to babble nonsense that may or may not have been my name. My eyes drifted over to his lips where his tongue had darted out just slightly to trail along the surface of his lower lip. I leaned up and tilted my head slightly, my eyes fluttering shut just as I pressed against his lips with my own.

The kiss was gentle at first, a simple brush of his warm lips against mine, but I could feel the embers of something hotter and hungry coiling deep within. Impey's hands slipped around my back, still wet from the water with the clean scent of the dish soap clinging to his skin and clutching lightly at the base of my corset like he was holding on to me for life itself, but never rising higher. Never letting me feel the full strength of him that I knew was there. For all his excitable ways, he was gentle when I needed him to be.

And I wanted more.

My hand rose up to bury my fingers in the thick softness of his hair at the base of his neck, unintentionally pulling a few strands through my fingers and drawing a sharp but throaty moan from his throat. His entire body stiffened, and I could feel him teetering on the edge of a decision. "Mnn... Luna... Luna, wait a minute." Impey reluctantly twisted his face away from mine, providing me with a moment to breath and an intimate glimpse of the inky spread of his pupils nearly engulfing the thin rim of emerald in his eyes. "Baby, not that I don't totally love what you're doing because I totally do! But are you really sure you want this? Because I don't want to push you or-" 

I silenced him by pressing my fingers to his lips "I want this." I growled, my voice deepening with a surge of predatorial instinct lighting up my muscles.

Something dark and hungry flashes in his eyes, his smile growing sharper with the hint of recklessness I had come to recognize. "Well, it's the incredible Mr. Impey's job to satisfy his lady's wants and needs. That's probably my fault, my irresistibly knows no limits." 

A small bubble of laughter ripped free from my throat as leaned back against the support of the cabinet with a smile, my back hitting the surface with a firm thump while his arms slid free of his jumpsuit and raised his shirt with one smooth stroke, flinging his white and thin gold striped tank top across the kitchen into some unknown corner to be found later. His hands then dropped and came around my back, his nimble fingers fiddling with the lacing of my corset before the knot came apart with a single tug. My blouse and corset fell away as I tried to wiggle out of my skirt and that's when he paused with wide eyes glancing up and down my midsection, all the excitement I had felt quickly chilled into cold fear as my hands automatically came up and folded across my stomach and chest. I forgot about those damned scars! I had assumed since Impey had briefly seen me after I changed form, he had also seen the scars as well, but it was plain to see that he hadn't.

"Did he do that to you?" His hands gently removed mine from my midsection, exposing the clawmarks carved into my skin starting at the underside of my breasts and extending all the way down to my hips. There was more on my back, long ones where claws had cut into my skin in a battle for victory, but these were different and still just as dramatic to look at. I knew they were there, had actually been there so long that I had almost become blind to them myself except only to remember how they looked to other people. 

"No," I started off lowly. "They came from trying to help a friend escape Remus's clutches. He needed to get back to his family and I tried to help him. I don't know if he ever made it or not, but these were my reward."

Large pearl sized droplets gathered at the corners of his eyes, his arms wrapping tightly around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest, his wet cheek brushing against mine as the fat tears overflowed from his eyes to land against my skin. "My precious baby girl! You're so brave! A heroic angel just sitting here in my arms." He alternated between babbling his praise and pressing tender kisses to my cheek.

I lifted my hands and placed each on either side of his face, gently nudging his eyes to return to mine. "Could we just forget about the past, just for a little while?" 

With a few quick blinks, his tears were gone and the smirk that I was rapidly becoming familiar with had returned into place. "Mr. Impey aims to please. Where would you like to start his shower of adoration first? 

"My ears... Ah!" On command, His fingers wove gently through my hair, reaching the sensitive base of my ears where every simple movement of his fingers felt like the most delicious torture I've ever had. With simple movements, his fingers lightly teased against the sensitive muscles with small circular movements that had my spine bowing outwards with the sparkling tingles that made every nerve sing in my body. His lips continued on their journey down, the skin tingling in his wake as he left small nips that were not painful at all. 

"Impey, Luna! Are you here? Oh, I do apologize!" My eyes snapped open in an instant, meeting Impey's shocked emerald ones as he raised his head up before glancing over his shoulder to see that we now had an unexpected witness to our actions. Standing just beyond the entrance to the kitchen was the silver haired lord of the house himself, his back turned to our figures to allow us a little privacy. "The Queen herself has requested to meet with Ms. Luna as soon as possible. As I had expected, her majesty has quite a few questions concerning the young Lord Hasting that she is wanting to ask. Please do excuse me." Saint departed with a series of retreating steps to the depths of his house. 

Impey broke in a loud laugh once Saint had vanished but I just buried my head in his shoulder, trying to hide the scarlet blush that was burning my face all the way up to my ears. How was I ever going to face Saint again?

Even more so, how was I going to face the Queen?


	12. Chapter 12 ~ Questions From The Queen

~Impey~

"Luna, sweetie? Are you okay?"

I placed a tentative hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly to get her attention while she quickly blinked and her eyes lost that creepy listlessly staring look. She seemed a little shocked that she was sitting in the passenger seat of my sweet little automobile, and even more surprised that we were parked in front of a large but slightly ramshackle building filled with kids of all ages peeping out of every window and doorway they could. "I'm fine. Where are we?" She said with a small shake of her head like she was getting rid of whatever mental place she had been to.

"Remember what I told you? This is the orphanage that Mrs. Ernestine runs. You remember Clair, the little girl you rescued? Well, she and all the other kids live here. Their the ones that we baked the pies for." Crap! I shouldn't have mentioned the pies. First her pretty face paled completely white as a one of Fran's coats before coloring a bright red when all the blood in her body flushed her cheeks all the way down to her neck. Her eyes darted about frantically, finding Saint standing on the doorstep of the orphanage and casually chatting with Mrs. Ernestine while some of the older kids took custody of the lemon pies that he was carrying. She was probably still worried about us getting caught in the kitchen being a little 'busy'. My poor baby vanished completely the whole time Saint and I were loading up the sweet desserts and when she did come back, now fully dressed in a pretty longsleeve light green shirt with fluff of a white jabot at the neck. She had kept the tiered black skirt that ended at her knees, but added a chocolate colored corset to her outfit that matched her boots. Her ears were tied down again with the ribbon I had gave her, leaving her pretty hair mostly loose in silky waves. She had barely met Saint's eyes before she climbed in the car and zoned out. "You don't have to worry about Saint saying anything about... You know" I winked but she didn't catch it. "Sainty-G is a gentleman and gentlemen don't rat out stuff like that."

Something sparkled in the gloomy depths of her eyes, I think it was laughter and it was only a moment later that I found out I was right! Luna cupped her hand over her lips, hiding a shy smile and a sweet little bubble of laughter that had me feeling like I was walking on air. Then her eyes flashed to the kids starting to trickle out the front door despite Mrs. Ernestine's best efforts, little legs running just as fast as they could. 

"You better get ready, sweetie, because the natives are coming for ya."

"Impey, what if they find out what I am?" She hurriedly whispered.

"Don't worry, these little guys couldn't care less. You're a brand new buddy to them." I barely got out the last few words before a little body slammed into my legs, quickly followed by the impact of two more. "Vampire attack!" I crowed, quickly scooping up one of the little ones attached to my leg and held her high in the air while she squealed with delight. Once the kids realized that someone new was waiting to be greeted, they all fell on her at once.

She didn't have to worry. The kids positively adored her! A little rough and tumble blond six year old boy named Billy grabbed her hands and dragged her towards the house, a slightly smaller girl with glasses and shaggy red hair named Sara hanging on to her fluffy tail with a death grip like it was her new favorite toy. That was only the start of the adventure as more of the kids swamped her, including her in all the games and little activities. It was totally awesome and she always had the biggest happy smile on her face, plus one or two kids chasing after her tail and another small one petting her ears after the ribbon mysteriously disappeared from her hair.

I really hated to leave, but Saint reminded me that a very important lady was waiting for us, so we did only with promises that Luna would come back soon and that I would bring my Orinthopter back too. Then we were off and on our way to meet the queen.

As we drove, the buildings gradually turned into mansions lining the streets as they steadily grew larger and more luxurious until one massive glittering building dominated the entire area. Buckingham palace, the tall and dignified heart of London and the home of our very lovely ruler was the tallest of the entire area, looming over the other buildings with the sides of the building starting to turn the lightest shade of orange from the sun starting to set. I pulled the automobile into park and swiveled in my seat, a bubble of laughter coming out of my throat as Luna's pretty golden eyes bugged out at the sight of the palace. "You okay, honeybunch?"

"Um... Yeah." She stepped out as Saint opened the door for her.

"I'm not surprised. Buckingham Palace is quite a stunning surprise for those who are unfamiliar with it." Saint chuckled as he offered Luna his arm. She smiled shyly but accepted, walking beside the count with her head shyly turned down but still peeping out from under her bangs with wide eyes taking in every sight that followed.

Leonhardt was standing by the door, shoulders stiff and back straight in a soldier's position. He nodded briefly as we climbed the steps. "Hey there, Old Man. How's it going?" I gave a jaunty wave and a smile as we reached the top and I think he was about to swallow his finely waxed mustache. My sweet Luna thought it was funny anyway, hiding a chuckle behind her hand while Saint just continued to calmly smile like he always does as he politely introduced her to the captain of the British Army.

Leonhardt roughly cleared his throat. "Good evening! Thank you for arriving so promptly!"

Luna cringed slightly, taking a half step behind me just from the sheer loudness of his voice. I couldn't blame her, the old guy was kinda loud to begin with, so he probably did scare her just a little bit.

"Her majesty is waiting for you! Come along!" With that said, Leonhardt turned sharply on his heel and led us inside the palace. As we walked further into the glittering halls, I noticed that there was an increasing amount of soldiers littering the hallway as we followed along behind Leonhardt, all standing perfectly to attention and armed with a military issue rifle in one hand. Security had really beefed up around the place since I had visited here last. They must be worried that Pesky Remus is going to try something. Hmm... Pesky Remus, I gotta think of a better name than that for him.

"Impey?" A gentle little tug on my hand interrupted my thoughts and I looked down to see Luna curiously gazing up at me. "Impey, Sir Leonhardt asked us to step in."

Oops. I turned to see a rather impatient looking Leonhardt gesturing for us to step inside the regal throne room. Saint was already walking ahead, creepy happy Saint smile in place, and I scurried up behind him with Luna having switched to my arm instead of Saint's. The room was large and wide, but what occupied the center Queen Victoria was sitting on the throne, looking regal and totally beautiful of course. At the base of her throne stood the Marquis and Van Helsing, one smiling fondly towards us and the other presenting his typical grumpy glasses scowl.

Leonhardt clasped one arm over his heart and bowed forward at the waist. "Your Majesty, I have brought them here as you requested."

"Thank you, Leonhardt. Excellent work as always." Victoria stood up in a single smooth motion, sauntering forwards towards us with her eyes flickering over both Luna and myself with such sharp motions that I was starting to feel like a prized cow being judged before heading to the butcher. When her gaze fully transferred to solely land on Luna, inspecting each and every portion of her from the top of her head to the soles of her boots, I saw my darling's shoulders shake with a soft sigh before she raised her head and gazed back at the queen of England with a somber gaze.

"Why thank you, Ma'am! I count it my highest honor to receive such high praise from yourself." Clasping his right arm to his chest once again, Leonhardt tilted forward into a respectful bow for the queen once again, distracting her just long enough that I reached out and threaded my fingers through Luna's for a reassuring squeeze. An action that was quickly returned as she squeezed hard enough that my fingers almost popped right out of their sockets. My lips stretched in a tight smile as Saint and I bowed forward towards her highness, using what feeling I had left in my hand to gently tug on Luna's hand so that she might catch on to the picture. She did, dipping down into an proper curtsy.

"Good evening, Your Highness. May I present Ms. Luna Iselda as you requested along with Mr. Barbicane." Saint introduced us with a light wave of his hand.

"Thank you for coming, young lady." She smiled towards Luna before turning towards me.   
"And to you as well, Mr. Barbicane. It has been quite a while since your memorable presence has made itself known in these halls. I understand you have been kept quite busy with the way things have unfortunately progressed."

"Yeah, it's been a while. Vicky-Q. I promise I won't break any fancy paintings this time." I saw Leonhardt's face turn about 12 different shades of a furious purple at my nickname for the queen, his hand flexing against his sword like he was itching to strangle me. The Marquis gave a flicker of an amused smile before he quickly composed his features into the polite mask he normally wore, as was Saint as they both proclaimed a rather calm air. Van Helsing was still scowling, his arms crossed over his chest and I think he might have been mentally trying to set me on fire.

"How dare you refer to her royal highness in such a manner! Apologize at once!" Leonhardt blustered but Queen Victoria merely waving him off with her hand.

"It's fine, Leonhardt. I do find the nickname rather amusing." Her head lightly tossed back with a small chilling laugh that sent a whole river of bone chilling shivers crawling down my spine. Victoria could be a little creepy when she laughed, like old lady who has a knife hidden behind her back while offering you cookies creepy. Whatever her plan was, I would be beside my babycakes the whole way. Sobering up, she walked directly in front of Luna who was timidly meeting her intimidating gaze. "Ms. Luna, I'm sure you realize the reason I have summoned you here this evening?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Because I was held prisoner as one of Remus's underground fighters and I was a witness and participant in the experiments that he conducted in Issac Beckford's research."

"That is correct. It has not escaped my attention that you were most certainly traumatized from the encounter, but the experience has also granted you with a unique knowledge of the inner workings of his mind and his ridiculous plans to take over London using that rebuilt toy of his. Besides yourself, there is one other person who might contain some of the puzzles pieces of knowledge that we need to stop Lord Hasting. You may have heard of him through your companions, Nemo. A former scientist of the Royal Society whose involvement in Code: Realize led to his arrest and jailing. He is currently serving his lifetime sentence in jail and under close supervision." Queen Victoria ruffled her cape on her arms as she slowly strolled back and forth, her heels making an unnerving click-click-click sound against the floors.

I scratched at the back of my neck with one hand. "Nemo? He would have the knowledge of how to raise the _Nautilus_ up or build a new one but since he's been in prison, shouldn't Scotland Yard have already interrogated him?"

"That task has been reserved for you, dear brother. Since learning of Lord Hasting's activities, Nemo has refused to speak with anyone except his best buddy who truly understands the miracle of science as well as he does." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure slink slink out of the shadows at the corner of the room, prompting a low growl from Luna and even a hand slowly lowering to his sword from Leonhardt. Tall and slender like myself, but with a considerable amount of female curves to her body that made her most devastatingly beautiful. My sultry baby sister Eva strolled towards us with hungry predator's gaze, raised one elegant hand and smoothed her palm along her neatly upswept scarlet hair that coiled tight at the back of her head in a bun, decorated only by a small glimmering golden hairstick slid right through the center. "If you ask me, the man is an fool who should have been locked in an insane asylum rather than a prison."

Her crimson dress, so slender and molded to her upper figure that it was almost improper before it loosely fell into waves of fabric around her legs and feet, fluttered around her legs as she walked, almost hiding the large shaggy dog padding along at her side. Neve, a battle trained Irish Wolfhound that was as tall as some small ponies I had seen before, swept the surroundings with a searching gaze of twinkling dark eyes buried deep in the shaggy charcoal grey hair that covered her face. The motion was echoed by Eva's own emerald eyes as she sauntered over to join us, only to pause when her eyes met Saint's slitted icy blue ones. The air suddenly grew real stiff and thick like it does before a thunderstorm hits, and I could almost see the lightning flashing between them before Saint ever so slowly bowed in Eva's direction. "Lady Barbicane." His voice was ever so smooth, ever so chillingly polite that I was half expecting snowflakes to start falling right then and there.

"Count Saint-Germain" She returned favor with an equally frosty curtsy. "Your presence here is quite the surprise to me. As is yours, brother."

Casually tossing a wink in my sis's direction, I quickly pecked a kiss on Luna's cheek that made her giggle slightly. "Well, helping beautiful ladies with their troubles and saving the world from wackjobs is just a day in the life of the incredible Mr. Impey. ya know?"

"Impey Barbicane," A woman in a golden yellow soldier's uniform shirt, a vibrant blue and yellow plaid skirt that reached her knees, and tall black boots stepped out of the shadows behind my Sis. Zadora, her friend and frequent partner in the darker things that Eva did for the queen. Zadora's voice was still heavily colored by her wild accent, bringing to mind wide open fields and a fierce wanderlust to roam across the land. I was kinda surprised that she still hadn't lost that by now, she was trained to be a lady just like Sis instead of just a housekeeper like she worked for Sis in between jobs for Vicky-Q. "You managed to catch yourself a werewolf, eh? I'm surprised that she didn't eat you yet."

I heard Luna gasp softly as she took in the full effect of the head full of wild dark curls that fell past her shoulders, flawless features with snapping blue-green eyes that could cut you just as easily as a well sharpened knife. Zadora did have a shocking resemblance to Cardia, if you didn't notice the mechanical left leg similar to Sisi's, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Zadora and my sister were friends from as far back as I could remember, both being trained assassins for the queen but Zadora. Somehow she had been raised by a gypsy family, her missing limb not a problem for them as she had used a wooden one until I met her and Eva asked me to build a leg for her friend once she saw how I had built Sisi's. She didn't pay us any further mind as she went about greeting both the Marquis and Leonhardt with a hug before stopping right in front of Van.

"Hello, Abraham." Zadora ignored the others as she turned on Van Helsing with a small smile of delight, who I also noticed was coolly returned her burning gaze with a blank stare of his own.

"Good Evening, Zadora." His eyes never left her face as Zadora sauntered forward and planted a big ole honking kiss right on Van Helsing's cheek. Whoa! Hold everything! I think my jaw just dropped completely open but I lost feeling in all my limbs from shock! Van and Zadora? Together maybe? Somebody was actually putting up with Grumpy Four Eyes willingly? I managed to rip my eyes away from the scene as Van politely motioned her away, his scowl now deeper than ever and I thought he might actually shoot a happily giggling Zadora as she skipped away towards the queen with his rock salt shells, and glanced towards my Sis who was actually rolling her own eyes in response. So... maybe not then. Or not yet?

"Impey, don't stare. It's not very polite." Two slender fingers prodded the skin under my jaw, pushing it neatly back into place, as Luna whispered softly in my ear.

"Thank you Zadora." I glanced up to see Queen Victoria had taken control of the conversation in just that little snap. "Were you able to persuade Nemo to reveal his expertise?"

"Sadly, no." Eva reached up a slender hand to twirl the ends of her braid around one finger, her scarlet painted lips pushing up into a slight pout while she continued. "Despite our most persuasive techniques, Mr. Nemo continued to insist that he would only speak to my brother. One item that he did mention was that he did not have a estimate on what Lord Hasting was doing. He even seemed rather surprised by our mention of him."

"I see," A peculiar smile, almost a little bit motherly, crossed Victoria's features as she turned back to Luna with that piercing gaze. "Ms. Iselda. Would you be willing to answer a few questions in regards to Lord Hasting?"

I saw her throat bob as she swallowed hard, her ears quivering under the band of the ribbon and her hand squeezing mine again, but Luna shifted her shoulders back slightly and looked Queen Victoria right in the eyes. "With all due respect, Your Highness, that's why I am here."

"Excellent!" A sharp little squeak cheeped out of my throat as Luna squeezed my fingers harder, losing a little blood flow there while the Queen smiled so broadly that I wondered if maybe she had a little shark somewhere in her bloodline. You know, I saw a picture of one of those babies in a book of Fran's. All sharp teeth and bloodthirsty actions. That's exactly what I got from Queen Victoria, she was a really beautiful lady on the surface, smart too, but the British Empire was her baby and she would make like a shark to protect it. "Let's begin."

"Don't worry, Luna sweetie. It's going to be okay. I'll be right here if you need me." I promised her. I really meant it too. Somebody would have to drag my unconscious body out of here if they wanted me out. I think Van Helsing came close to that when I started crying again when Victoria started quizzing Luna about her knowledge of who and what she encountered during the fighting rings, and when Eva started to rapid fire lethal questions about Remus's activities and did she know this person or that person, Grumpy Glasses pulled out his shotgun and started forcing me back against the wall. Zadora was even worse, her crazy-ass questions nearly pulling my sweet little fuzzy darling into frustrated tears. Thank goodness for the Marquis. He was so sweet to her, patting her shoulder and trying to calm her down like she was one of his grandkids who were upset. By the time they were finished, Luna had spilled her emotional guts like three times, ended up so exhausted that she fell asleep in the automobile on the ride home. I hope it really helped them, and Queen Victoria and the Marquis did apologize for stressing her so much. Luna just shyly smiled and waved it off, but I could tell she was still really upset. Something else the Queen did provide us with was a special letter of permission to see Nemo in his prison cell and stamped with her special seal of approval to be used tomorrow morning. Luna meeting Nemo, this will be something to remember, but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one.

Luna didn't say that much during dinner, and by nightfall she was gone outside. Running through the grassy forest and the meadow out behind the mansion in full fuzzy wolf form, every now and then she would stop to howl, a bone shaking predator's call that had shivers crawling up my spine except they were the good kind this time. I spent the whole evening gazing out the window and watching her race around in the grass. She looked so happy and so sweet, I wanted to join her so bad but I didn't want to interrupt the me time she needed really badly, but it did give me a little idea.

Note to self: make Luna a bigger doggy door for wolf form. She won't fit through Sisi's door.

The next morning, we rushed through breakfast so that we could hop in the automobile and cruise on down to the prison. The guards were super friendly and helpful, waving us on through once we explained who we were and showed them the letter of permission that Queen Victoria had gave us last night. The lower floors of the prison were pretty crowded, but as we climbed the stairs into the higher levels, it started to clear out until there was only like one or two. According to the guard at the entrance, Nemo was supposed to be on floor number seven, but when we reached the floor, it was a little bit of a surprise to find it completely empty.

"Nemo's cell was supposed to be on this floor." I walked around, looking in at the various empty cells. Normally you could hear the guy before you ever saw him with his loud voice and everything, but the only thing I could hear was a slight sputtering sound. Almost like someone was trying to talk while choking or something. I frowned, glancing over to where Luna was pacing the hallway with her perky little nose tilted up to catch the scents in the air. She must have sensed something because her lovely features were drawn down into a puzzled frown. "Something wrong, Luna?"

"I don't know." She paced back and forth again, the tucked down portions of her ears were straining at her ribbon and her tail had dropped down from underneath her skirt to swish through the air with sharp slashing motions. "I can hear someone talking, but I can't quite tell where they are. It's coming from somewhere above, that I can tell. Maybe they are on the next floor up?"

"Maybe the guard got a little mixed up. Let's go!" Luna followed right behind me as we climbed up to the next and final floor of the prison... and I stopped dead in the doorway while she plowed straight into my back.

With his back pressed against the wall and his thin legs kicking vainly at the air, Nemo was sputtering muffled nonsense against the thick stony hand wrapped around his throat and mouth. His golden goggles covered his eyes, but I could tell by the panicked expression on his face that he needed help _bad_.

I had heard about Gargoyles before, but I hadn't seen one personally besides the little garden statues that a lot of people kept. However the guy that was easily holding up Nemo with one hand beat the heck out of any rumor I had heard before. Taller than me by a foot with a heavy compact body that looked like it was carved straight out of granite, and I do mean straight because the guy literally looked like he was made out of rock! His fingers were as large as sausages, each one topped by a long razor sharp claw. A pair of large wings grew from his back, veined and webbed like a bat's except for a matching claw at the top of the folded up joint. When he noticed that we were standing there, he turned and snarled, exposing sharp darting dark eyes and a jutting jaw with a few gaps where fangs were missing.

"For the love of all that is holy, Gerald! Hold that blasted idiot still!" Luna let out a low rumbling growl and bared her fangs in the same instant that I heard that unmistakable voice along with the click of a cane against the floor. Remus lurched into view from behind the gargoyle's wings, a sweet smelling cloth held in his free hand that he pressed against Nemo's face while he leaned heavily on his cane with the other. His scarred face twisted up in a sneering grimace as he noticed that he now had an audience. "Oh, it's _you!"_

"R-R-R-Remus!" Luna's long rumbling growl sounded positively ferocious as she started to charge forward before I caught her shoulder, her hands curved and sharp nails ready to claw along with her jaws and fangs twisted up into a snarl. Her ears had sprung free, the pointed tips flickering angrily flicking back and forth along with her tail. "Let him go!"

"Oh, him?" He casually tossed a glance towards Nemo whose struggling was now slowing as what I suspected was Chloroform took hold. "As unlikely as this idiot is, I do find myself in need of him to achieve my ultimate goals since he was the original pilot of the_ Nautilus_. So just step aside and witness the glory that shall rise with the _Nautilus II!"_

"Wackjob, just lay off the-" I had started forward toward the gargoyle holding a now limp Nemo, but Luna was already stomping towards him, claws and fangs bared and her eyes so intensely focused on the gargoyle that I thought the dude might go up in flames. Instead, the stone dude handed off Nemo to Remus, squaring up like a wrestler and arms spread in waiting to grab Luna as she stalked closer.

I wasn't expecting her to take the gargoyle's hands, twist them around and up behind his back, and slam him into the wall like she was slinging a bag of rice. The whole wall shook from the weight of the impact of the heavy body, and a few marble white fangs went bouncing across the floor as the guy staggered around with a slightly dazed stare, one hand holding on tight to what had to be an aching head before he slumped down to the floor. "Let the man go, Remus!" Luna growled as she stalked right up to Remus, staring him eye to eye, and plucked Nemo right out of his arms before slinging his slender body over her shoulder like he was nothing more than a doll.

"Well, aren't you brave. Showing off your alpha female side for your new boyfriend, are you?" I didn't think the smirk on Remus's face could grow any worse, but it did. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Luna, showing off a dangerous smile of my own, and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Wackjob, there's something you need to know about the incredible Mr. Impey and my darling Luna. She doesn't have to be something she's not for me, she's perfect in every way. It had to be that there's something up with you if you couldn't see that, and you tried to make her into something she's not. But whatever crazy scheme you've got cooked up, you're not going to succeed. Queen Victoria herself is after you along with the British army, and we've got a few powerful friends as well. So, you know, you could just give it up now and save everybody a whole bunch of trouble."

For a hunched up guy, Remus was pretty quick with a uppercut aimed towards my belly that I easily caught with one hand. It only seemed to enrage him more though, his pale face turning a bright shade of violent red as he started trying to pummel me with his fists. "How dare _you_, a common leech, chastise me for what I can or cannot do! You are nothing! A disgusting scum that needs to be eliminated from this world! How _dare_ you call me a fool? You are all fools and I will see you all eliminated if it's the last thing I do!"

Remus never landed a blow because I picked him up by the back of his shirt collar, legs and arms swinging wildly as he dangled in the air. A thin trail of white foam dripped from his lips, his golden eyes rolling wildly from side to side like a mad animal. "Geez," I whistled through my teeth, "Dude, relax! Luna, what do you think I should do with him?"

She shrugged and puffed a breath out to blow away a piece of Nemo's long pale hair that landed on her face, hefting his squirming body back up into place on her shoulder since he was starting to wake up. "Put him in one of the cells and see if you can drag Gerald the Gargoyle into a different one, I guess."

"Do you idiots really think that I would only come with _one_ beast as my minion?" Remus started spouting off again as I carried him into one of the cells. I frowned, starting to open my mouth to reply when I felt something small and cold hit my neck. A shadowy darkness immediately started spreading across my vision, blotting out everything I could see as my muscles just felt like they died. I couldn't raise my arms or move my legs, much less my mouth when I tried to warn Luna to look out.

"Impey-mfff!" Luna's voice sounded so far away, like she was screaming over a big valley or something but then it just cut off like someone had muffled her voice. I tried to move, I had to get to her, but nothing worked at all. Dimly, I was aware of something picking me up, but a deep throbbing ache in my skull pulled me away from everything into a dark world of silence.


	13. Chapter 13 ~ A Wild Ride Through the Sky

~Luna~

_"Louve."_

My head was pounding, splitting pains racing up through the sides of my skull like lightening bolts in a clear sky. A soft whimper crept from my throat as I pushed my hands against my sensitive ears to try and protect myself from any further pain.

_"Louve. Louve, reveillez-vous!" _ The insisting voice was harsh and deep, a crackling rumble of rocks crunching under a boot. When I didn't respond, the owner of the voice prodded my shoulder with one sharp talon. I blinked open my eyes and immediately groaned, a thin stream of light pierced straight through my eyes and up to my aching head with needle sharp intensity. "This is not time for sleep! You must raise, _Louve! _" The talons pricked my shoulder as a heavy hand fully descended, thick fingers clenching painfully tight in what felt like a prob for bones beneath my skin. I yelped, slashing my fingernails against the hand as I rolled up onto my knees. The blow bounced harmlessly off of thick stone like skin as the hand withdrew amidst a deep rolling thunder like chuckle. 

My eyes narrowed to slits, both from the pain of my aching head and to try and make sense of my surroundings. It was a small cell, almost similar to the prison cells I just seen previously, with a door of vertical iron bars as thick as my wrist framing the entrance. Bright lights were shining from somewhere beyond the door, illuminating a hulking figure that filled the majority of the space. I couldn't see the figure's face, but I knew the scent. "Gerald, what are you doing here?"

"I come to return favor to a friend, _oui? _ You are in need of help to rescue _votre amant? _" His thick french accent was as thick and smooth as a lazy river, muddling what words of English he did speak into an almost french sound sprinkled with words of true french that he didn't know the English equivalent of. "You helped me, I help you. Is easy, _non? _"

"But Remus still has your family! I wasn't able to help you at all! You're still here, still working for _him _!" The last word left my lips as an anguished cry, one that ripped a choked gasp from my throat as tears started to roll down my face. I had promised Gerald I would help rescue his beloved wife and daughter from Remus's clutches, seen the love shining in his eyes as he swore he would come back to them, someday, somehow. I had spent so many nights whispering plots and plans between the bars of our cages only to learn that Remus was watching our every move with one of his mocking smiles in places as we tried and failed to rescue his family. The scars on my body were nothing compared to what I had hoped against hope that Gerald and his family had made it to freedom, but somehow I knew they were still here. My friend still being forced to dirty his hands with innocent blood.

Gerald nodded, his dark eyes slipping into a slightly hooded expression with the heavy lids falling forward. One hand roughly shoved through the fringe of dark hair cropped close to his skull, briefly flashing a glimpse of the pointed ears resting almost human like on either side of his skull, before he raised his eyes back to mine. "Did we succeed, _non _. Did you keep your word, _oui _. Your honor is more important than the consequences of our actions. _Comprenez vous? _ You are honorable, and I am honored to call you _amie _. Not many have pleasure of being named honorable by the _Gargouille _." His massive chest puffed out with that last statement like he had just bestowed some massive honor on my head, and in a way it was. Honor was something the Gargoyles, or _Gargouille _ as they called themselves, valued above all others. Gerald had told me once that a _Gargouille _ would die before they would break their word. And that was something I was afraid would happen. 

"I'm sure Remus had you promise not to let me escape or help me in any way. I appreciate it so much that you want to help me, but you can't do anything at all."

At this, Gerald looked mildly affronted. Staring down at me like I was a mischievous child with a glare that would have scared a lesser person had I not know that he was indeed my friend, a slight shiver of fear still grabbed my spine with icy claws and skittered across my skin. " _Louve _, do not judge the _Gargouille _, is bad mistake that many have made. Any promise can be made, many can also be _casse _, but there are ways to do none. It would be problem if I saw you escape, _oui _? But if I try to stop you, and you best me, is no problem." With that said, he angled out his jutting jaw and exposed the soft tender skin underneath his throat. "Make it look good." 

Thanks to their heavily armored skin, a gargoyle did not have many weak spots across their stout bodies. One of the most vulnerable ones was the area underneath their throat where a single blow could knock out a fully grown male, one that Gerald was now willingly allowing me to strike as I saw fit. "You're sure?" He nodded at my question, dark eyes narrowing as I clenched my right hand and drew back my arm.

** Wham! **

I closed my eyes at the last second, hissing through my teeth as my bare knuckles encounter his still strong skin. Gerald barely blinked, his stout head bobbing lightly with the lingering effects of my blow. "Is that it? You have grown soft, _Louve _."

**Wham! **

The second blow actually sent him teetering back on his heels, eyelids dropping to briefly shield his crossed eyes from my sight before he reared back up with a heavy snort through his nose. "Better, but still-"

**Wham! **

I hissed through my teeth, one eye squinting up in pain as I cradled my sore right hand in my left, tentatively poking Gerald's prone body with the toe of my boot. He was out, completely laid spread out on his back with his wings fanned beneath his spine, and left the door wide open for me to escape. I silently whispered him my thanks as I hopped over his body and started out with one goal. To find Impey. 

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. As soon as I stepped out of the corridor I was in, I nearly ran face to face with one of the dark clothed and beaked masked men of Twilight's foot soldiers if it hadn't been for a quick dodge on my part. The further I continued into whatever location we had been transported revealed that it was some kind of massive airship, the staff being more and more soldiers of both Twilight and Remus's own dark clothed assassins in his personal service. Why was there so many members of Twilight aboard this ship? Remus had more than enough of his own men to run this ship, or he previously had in the past. Was there some new alliance between the organization and Remus? 

I couldn't stop for too long and consider that question. Instead, I kicked off my boots and padded off through the halls in my bare feet, gaining a little bit of silence from the repeated strike of the heels of my boots against the flooring. My ears twisted this way and that, catching the unfamiliar sounds that echoed throughout this huge place from all directions. A triple set of footsteps solidified and increased in tempo as they approached from up ahead, and I whipped my head back and forth to search for a place to hide. There, in the shadows between two steam belching pipes was a small spaces just large enough for my body if I curled tightly enough. I didn't take time to think, diving for the spot in the shadows just as two of the dark cloaked and beak masked soldiers of Twilight rounded the upcoming corner. They past by without even paying me the slightest bit of attention, too focused on whatever duty they had to preform. 

"I've got to find Impey." I murmured to myself once I was sure they had passed and I crept out of my hiding place. My nerves felt like they were on fire with worry, both from the part that I couldn't trace Impey by his scent because all I could smell was steam, oil, and Twilight members, but also that I had been unconscious for period of time, and I knew exactly what kind of damage Remus could wreck in even the briefest of moments.

I kept on, slinking through the shadows and hiding behind pipes and crates whenever I came upon a masked member of Twilight. I wish I had paid more attention to Impey when he was muttering about airship layouts and things, because I had no idea if I was traveling up or down, or even my exact position in the ship. It was an endless maze of pipes, machine workings that I had no idea what they even were, and corridors leading to more corridors. Gerald's deception wouldn't remain undiscovered forever, someone would notice I was gone and then they would find me.

Where was Impey?

I keep heading in the direction ahead of me until I come to a cross section of paths, one leading left, the other leading right. Both seemed completely identical except... something was off coming from the left. Angling my head, I tilted my nose up into the air and twisted my ears, trying but still failing to catch just a few little sounds that trickled down through the hallway. I couldn't even tell exactly what they were, except that it was something that sounded partially like a moan? A sudden gust of air swept down through the hallway, and brought a scent that I was all too familiar with. 

The bitterly sweet tang of misery. 

There's no other choice, I rush down through the left hall as fast as I dared. My bare feet soundlessly slapping against the metal pathway until I come across two Twilight soldiers advancing in my direction. A startled squawk and a hand reaching for their swords was the response they had to my sudden appearance, but I didn't give them any time to act further or sound an alarm. My fist crunched against the mask of the first, followed by my foot planting in the second's gut as they both go flying backwards to skitter along the hall. A second swift but firm punch to the head sends both into the land of unconsciousness, leaving their bodies as limp as dolls as I drag them into the shadows, hiding them in a gap formed between two pipes. 

I followed the scent down the corridor till I came to a certain door. One kick knocked it down, the metal falling flat against the flooring as I nearly gagged from the smell that came rolling out. Misery and death, fear and hate. As soon as I stepped inside, I was met with so many eyes that it felt like they were willing to kill me right where I stood. More stone skinned Gargoyles hunched over in their too small cages. Half dried Mermaid held in water filled glass tubs barely large enough to contain their scaled tails, much less their entire bodies. Delicate Fae, their upturned features and pointed ears visible while their translucent wings were pinned behind their fragile boned bodies with iron spikes. Starved vampires, their ribs almost as prominent as the fangs that drooped from their gums, and even a few nearly bald werewolves shifted fully into the wolf all filed the cages and cells contained inside the room nearly to the bursting point. 

My heart squeezed in my chest. I knew some of these faces in passing, survivors of the ring that had walked past my cage only to fight again the next day. They would kill in an instant when freed, no mercy left in their haunted eyes. It killed me to walk past them and ignore their cries, my brethren in blood and hunger, but I had someone to find. 

I followed the trail of his scent as it slowly thickened, weaving between cages of howling voices and searching hands to the very back where a few cells were embedded in the wall. "Impey, are you there?" I hissed while pressing my hands against the thick metal bars, trying to peer through the darkness inside the cell.

"Luna! My precious sweet angel! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?" Somewhere in the darkest parts of the cell, I heard something metallic hit the ground and Impey's form bounced out of the shadows to thread his long arms through the bars. A slight tint of purple covers one cheek, but otherwise he seems fine, happy even as he smiles so broadly while gently tracing down my cheek with his fingers. "I just knew that my beautiful, smart darling would break out of whatever cage he tried to put you in, kicking major ass while you went, but I was on my way out of here to find you just in case you needed a little Mr. Impey assistance."

My ears twisted straight back, catching the first threads of the incoming footsteps of Twilight soldiers. "I'm fine, but I won't be for much longer. Twilight minions are coming fast!" Hurriedly glancing over my shoulder, I saw the door to this room open and the first of many of the beaked masked men enter inside, a long silver saber held in hand and ready to fight.

"Don't worry about them, you just scooch your gorgeous little self right over there." He pointed to a gap in the wall between two empty cages. "And don't worry about a thing. Mr. Impey's got a little lesson to teach these guys as a gentleman fully powered on the sweet, sweet energy of love! Just trust me." He finished with a wink. 

I slid to the shadows just as he requested, wedging my body right into the gap but able to spring out in a single moment if I was needed. A total of three Twilight soldiers and two of Remus's own black clad men approached Impey's cell, pausing just as they reached his door and gazing around to try and find me. My fingers curled into my fists, adrenaline roaring through my veins in case I needed to fight. I trusted Impey, that I knew for sure, but there was always events of fate that no one could control. Vaguely I saw him shifting in the shadows of his cell, a light mechanical ticking counting off that almost sounded clock-like. At the back of my mind, I recalled something Van Helsing or Lupin had said once, about Impey's inventions exploding more often than not.

I should have listened. 

The door to Impey's cell blew straight off it's hinges with a huge explosion of steam, the weight of the door knocking the men down and completely out of the fight as more small pieces of assorted metal and other objects flew through the air. Wait a minute... was that a toilet lid? In response to the thunderous explosion, the chattering wail of the imprisoned sub-races reached a near deafening peak, screaming their fury out to the skies. It was nearly enough to drown out Impey's victorious crowing as he stepped out of his cell and carefully maneuvered around the limp bodies. "Heh, How you baddies like that? It was just a taste of the power of Mr. Impey's super powerful steam gun." 

"Steam gun?" I looked to where the previously white toilet lid was now firmly embedded into the opposite wall. "Sorry, but it looks more like you made a bomb with a toilet."

"Well... You're partially right. I needed a sturdy vessel to contain the build up of steam made from a portable NeoSteam engine that I usually keep a spare in my pocket. It was a good thing I did too, plus the toilet lid also served as the ammunition, but I only had one shot so I had to make it count." 

I felt my jaw go slightly slack as I stared as his brightly grinning face in pure awe. That was either one of the most brilliant weapons I've ever heard of, or the most outrageous. I'd decide later.

Impey casually sauntered forward, delicately laying one arm around my waist and the other around my shoulders so his hand could cup the back of my neck, tilting my face up so I could gaze into the deep green expanse of his eyes. "Thanks so much for coming back for me. It made me so very happy that you couldn't possibly believe it. I'm so glad you weren't hurt. I would rip this ship apart with my bare hands if he hurt you again." His lips briefly brushed the top of my head in a gentle but quick kiss. "Now, what do you say we get out of this place?"

I gazed around at the sad, hungry eyes glaring at us with so much madness glittering so deep in the depths. I would come back for them and free them from their cages, that I would silently promise them their freedom and one day they too would feel the grass beneath their feet and smell the sweet scent of fresh air. So it was with a breaking heart that I followed Impey away from this prison and all it's miserable souls containing within. 

Thanks to Impey's superior knowledge about airships in general, we were able to avoid most of the patrolling groups of Twilight soldiers flowing through the ship. However, the exit was still not the easiest location to find.

"And... That's another dead end." Impey sighed as he looked down the shadowy length of another corridor. I started to look myself, but the approaching sound of voices from somewhere close by that had my eyes stretching wide with alarm. Impey must have heard it as well, his own head snapping around so fast that his long braid banged into his shoulder. "C'mere, quick!" He hissed, motioning me with his hand to slide behind a protruding length of pipe. It was a tight fit with both of our bodies pressed tightly together, but what I could see through a tiny gap in the piping overrode any discomfort I had.

A hidden section of the wall opposite the corridor we had just walked down, revealing Remus's hunched figure leaning heavily on his cane while he spoke to another gentleman that I didn't recognize. Elegantly dressed in a long cream colored coat and a thick burgundy scarf wrapped around his neck. His long grey hair draped down from his dark top hat to end somewhere about his shoulders, a matching thick mustache and a small pointed beard of matching grey adoring his lightly age wrinkled face. A glittering gold monocle covered his left eye, the gold matching the ornate snake shaped top of his own walking cane. A few more Twilight soldiers and Remus's own minions stood to attention throughout the room, but was else laid there was breathtaking.

I gasped in shock at the beautiful blue crystal that occupied the center of the room, carved and cut to resemble a lush bush filled with rose blossoms. It's beauty was so breathtaking that for a moment, I thought it was real. The delicate petals, lush leaves, and twinning stems all sparkling beneath the humming lights that it seemed like an insult that so many dark wires were attached to the crystal and spread across the floor like a thick mass of dark snakes. Placed on either side, I recognized the shape of Impey's invention on the left, but a similar but slightly different object was placed on the right. Both were connected to the crystal rose by lengths of finer wires.

"He did it... He rebuilt Cardia's Horologium and he's using it to power the ship. That's why he needed my Gravity Alleviator and the old man's. The new crystal is too large and the weight of this big ole ship is too much. It wouldn't fly without them." Impey whispered in awe directly in my ear, but I don't think he was actually speaking to me. As beautiful as it was, I couldn't help but see it as a weapon of death and destruction as long as it was in Remus's hands. 

"How can we stop it?"

"We can't. At least, not right now." I felt my hopes sink like a stone falling through water and Impey rushed to explain. "If we can break off a small piece of that crystal and escape through that door way over there." I followed his finger that pointed past where Remus and the unknown man were standing to a small circular bay door was embedded in the wall. 

"That's impossible! We'd have to fly to be able to reach that! It's madness to try and charge right through."

Impey lays a hand on my shoulder, shifting around to stand in front of me on his knees and granted me the full view of big emerald eyes brimming full of unsaid emotion and a cocky grin on his lips. "Well now, I think we stand a pretty good chance of success if I do say so myself. Mr. Impey always comes through in a pinch. However, I do need to know one thing. Do you trust me?"

My tongue darted nervously along the lower edge of my lip, my throat suddenly bone dry as Impey patiently waited for my answer. "Yes... Yes, I trust you."

His smile grew even broader till his cheeks were so crinkled up that his eyes were smushed to slits. "That's just what I needed to hear, as long as you say you love me and trust me," He rushed forward so fast and scooped up my body in his arms that for one brief second, I couldn't tell which direction was up or down. I squealed, my hands flying up to grab ahold of his neck as he ran forward in a headlong charge straight towards the crystal. Remus cursed as he saw us coming, bellowing orders to the stunned soldiers gaping at our sudden appearance in shock. "Even I can fly powered on the wings of love!"

I tucked my head in the curve of Impey's neck, winching in anticipation of the sharp pain of the saber thrusts to come, but it never happened. At the very last moment, Impey leaped high into the air, sailing above their heads and ending in a spinning kick that dislodged a thick pipe that ran along the wall. Clouds of great choking steam rolled out of the now severed pipe like a foggy morning rolling across the moor, instantly stalling everyone in their tracks save for Impey's headlong charge. 

"Grab me a big ole chunk of that, will you Honey Bunch?" I nodded as Impey slowed down slightly, leaning back in his arms to reach out towards a long branch of the Horologium crystal. It was cold, but hard. My hands nearly sliding off of the thick thorny stem if it hadn't been for the stinging thorns driving deep into my palms. The pain was sharp and deep, drawing a deep rumbling growl from my throat, but I held tight as Impey took his next powerful step and the entire branch filled with blossoms broke off with a sharp crack.

"Stop them! Don't let her break it!" Remus ordered out, but it was too late. The instant the crack appeared in the crystal, a strange humming sound roared through the ship, sending several light flashing in a dizziness inducing pattern that made my head spin. Impey kept going, his target now the hangar door that opened with one swift kick of his boot against the control panel. 

The door opened with a soft mechanical whirl, revealing a beautiful blue sky lightly peppered with small smears of thin meringue like white clouds. The buffet of the wind churned up by the ship's engines thundered against my skull, ripping my hair free to toss about my head, and nearly sucking us out into the freedom of the skies beyond. "There's nowhere you fools can run unless you sprout wings!" Remus crowed out loud, his voice echoing around the room in repeated peals of mocking laughter. "Get them!"

The soldiers charged forward on command, feet stomping and blades extended like they intended to run us through while those that had cloaks were nearly pulled out from the force of the wind. My hands clutched tighter against the shard of crystal, red blood mixing with the blue inner light to create a slight magenta hue as a thick coating of panic started to take hold of my nerves. This was a mistake. There was no way out. We were going to die.

"Luna, It's all right. No matter what happens, you just trust me. Okay?" Impey's arms tightened around my body, keeping me carefully cradled against his chest as he leaped up without the slightest hesitation into the churning air and empty blue sky. Remus screamed something, or perhaps I did, but it was lost to the beating of the air whipping alongside my head. My eyes were torn wide open, completely unable to shut as I watched the ship fade into a small speck sitting in the sky. The ground below rapidly grows larger, the lumpy landscape of downtown London steadily growing clearer as I could begin to make out the shapes of the individual buildings.

"Impey, We're going to die!" I screamed out as the air rushed to grab the words from my lips and tossed them away into the calm skies above. "Why did you do this?"

"Luna, don't worry. I told you to trust me, didn't I?" He laughs and hugs me closer to his body. "We're good, you just wait and see!"

The wait wasn't long, a distant dark shape was zooming through the air at a rapid speed, quickly becoming clearer as I recognized the golden metal hull and the rapidly beating wings. The Orinithoper! But Impey was here with me, so who was driving the flying machine?

"Impey! Luna!" A familiar female voice called, the soft tone almost drowned out by the wind as I saw a smiling figure with dark chocolate curls and big teal eyes piloting the flying machine with an expert hand. Cardia, and she wasn't alone. Lupin stood at her back, opening a small door in the cockpit to fling a rope out as the machine zoomed towards us.

"See? Told ya! We're totally fine as long as we've got friends like my beautiful darling angel Cardia on my side." Impey reached out and snagged the rope ladder with an easy movement, looking up into Lupin's lightly scowling face before adding a few more words. "Oh, yeah. And you too, Lupin!"

The gentleman thief sighed heavily. "You two made it. You know, you really had me worried." Cardia tips the flying machine back out of the steep dive she had pulled it in in order to catch us and into a level flight pattern.

"How did you find us?" I called up to the ship.

"Ask Impey, it was his device that signaled us that you two were in danger." Cardia giggled with a smile, angling the machine in a drifting downward pattern towards London.

I did just as she asked, glancing over at the broadly grinning engineer as he produced a small golden pocketwatch flashing with a little red light in the face of the dial. "You see this? It's a high tech tracking device capable of emitting an emergency signal and vibrates when the other half of the locator is within range. I set it off the signal when I woke up in my cell and made sure that the Orinithoper was approaching before I leaped out into the sky. I wouldn't have jumped if I wasn't sure that we would both be safe. I promised you that I wouldn't hurt you and I have every intention of keeping that promise." A thin thread of alarm crept into his gaze as he noticed that I wasn't exactly responding to his chatter. "Luna? You okay, sweet baby pie?"

"I'm okay, just a little shocked at how amazing you really are."

A slight blush crept up his cheeks as he smiled so hard that I thought his face was crack in half. "I know, it's an experience really. Some people never recover from the realization."

"And some people are simply amazed that someone like him can exist." Lupin shot off from above, earning a playful banter from Impey as they shot insults back and forth like only a pair of old friends can do. I could hear Cardia laughing up above as she piloted the Orinithoper into a descent, but I quickly threw a glance up at the tiny dot of the lurking ship up above, wondering just what Remus had planned next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little notes:  
Blue Roses mean unattainable dreams or something impossible to accomplish.  
Louve = Wolf (feminine)  
Reveillez-vous! = Wake up!  
Oui = Yes  
Non = No  
Votre amant = Your lover  
Comprenez vous? = Do you understand?  
Gargouille = Gargoyle  
Amie = Friend  
Casse = Broken (masculine)


	14. Chapter 14 ~ The Call of the Darkest Hour

~Impey~

Thanks to my darling angel Cardia's most excellent piloting skills, we landed safely in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace, surrounded by an armed guard of the British army's best soldiers all proudly bearing their weapons. However, I don't think their rifles were going to be enough against the massive airship lowering through the sky.

Slowly dropping through the clouds with it's massive engines thrumming so loudly that the windows were shaking in the palace, The _ Nautilus II _ was descending from the sky like some kind of big vulture-like bird all big, dark, and imposing like. I felt Luna shiver against my side as the massive airship lowered to threateningly hover over London, the clicking crack of weapons sliding out into place and the sunlight dancing off the barrels of the weapons installed all along the side. 

It was a warship, there was no doubt about that, and with a psycho commander at the helm. It would probably destroy London into nothing more than a tiny pile of ash.

A sudden ear bleeding hiss and crackle made me winch up in pain, feeling like someone was driving needles right in my skull. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luna and Cardia scrunch up their pretty faces in pain. Both beauties covering their ears with their petite hands. Lupin hovered protectively around Cardia, and I tucked my arms around Luna's shoulders as a series of cackling grunts and finger like tapping sounded through the air shortly before someone started speaking.

"Helllllloooo Everyonnnneeee! This is the brillllliant scientist Nemoooooooooo speaking to you! IIIII have risen once again on the marrrrrrrvelous wings of Scienceeeee- Ack!" Nemo's screeching voice was cut off with a quick gagging sound, almost like someone had wrapped a hand around his throat. 

"Get away from there, you imbecile! Ow! Stop kicking me! Stop I say!" Remus's sneering voice momentarily boomed through the air as a lot of scuffling sounds rattled through the announcement system, followed by a couple curses and what sounded like Nemo was kicking the crap out of the little wackjob guy. Nemo wasn't much of a fighter, but those long skinny legs of his could hurt. A sharp smack came through along with a severe drawn out moan of pain that I, and I think every man standing here recognized as someone's personal manhood just got kicked into next week. I'm really hoping that it wasn't Nemo who was on the receiving end of that.

"You fool! I'm going to KILL YOU! How dare you strike me in my personal areas!" 

Yep, Remus got that one fair and square. I probably should feel a little sympathy for the guy. Maybe. When I think about it real hard. And I probably shouldn't have done this. "Woohoo! Get him, Nemo!" I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled up to the ship. 

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was on speaker, Remus then proceeded to call Nemo every cursed name and combination of curses that I've ever heard of, and quite a few I hadn't. A slight blush frosted my little fuzzy darling's cheeks at some of the more interesting ones, and I saw Cardia lean up to whisper a question into Lupin's ear which then brought a round of intense blushing to Lupin's face while trying to explain just where Remus was threatening to kick Nemo.

"Do you think he realizes that they are on speaker?" Lupin managed to stammer out, finally having giving up on trying to explain to Cardia and just cupping his hands over her ears to try and block out most of the curses. A series of clattering bangs and what sounded like a few more enraged Nemo screeches came through the speaker before someone cleared their throat and began to speak.

"Attention, all people of London! My name is Lord Remus Hasting, your new ruler of both the British Empire and the world! I have one demand of you before you recognize me as your one, true ruler. Return the wolf known as Luna Iselda to me along with a certain item that she stole, and your homes will be spared from my wrath, along with a high position in my court for the one who brings her to me. Refuse, and London itself shall burn!" His speech ended with a maniacal series of laughter that topped the screeches of surprise that rang up from the shocked citizens of London, no matter the class.

A rousing cry of outrage rippled through the assembled soldiers, their shock at such an outrageous demand so evident as they started to call for cannons or any sort of weapon that they might could turn on the Nautilus II. The scene turned into pure chaos as golden uniforms darted about like a bunch of insects gone crazy, that is till a single clear voice cut through the chaos like a knife. 

"Men! Hold your fire and assemble yourselves!" Leonhardt, mustache twitching on a face like thunder itself, marched down from the front entrance of the palace with his hand on his sword. "You are the pride of Britain, so find it within yourself to act accordingly! You four," He paused for a moment to point his finger at us. "The Marquis is promptly requesting your presence inside. DISMISSED!" His goal completed, Leonhardt strolled among the soldier's while loudly shouting orders that the soldiers followed like their life depended on it. 

Actually, they kinda did.

"Impey, Luna, Cardia. Let's go inside. Perhaps the Marquis has some good news to share with us. Preferably how we can bring down this metal monstrosity." I nodded as Lupin swept Cardia towards the entrance of the palace, giving a final glance up to the ship before herding a silent Luna inside. I wonder if... maybe I could... Nah. That idea wouldn't work.... but it might.

The Marquis was waiting for us inside in a smaller sitting room filled with windows overlooking the city, and also overlooking the threat of the _Nautilus II _. His hands were laced behind his back, pressing lightly against the dark suit he was dressed in today, the perfect picture of composure compared to the chaotic scene just beyond the frame of the glass. Van Helsing stood at his side, the ever efficient grumpy bodyguard that was occasionally commenting on something to the Marquis in a low grumble. Fran had also arrived sometime before we did, sitting on a elegant curved red velvet sofa with a much more subdued Zadora at his side, softly speaking to her in hushed tone. I wasn't particularly listening for their conversation, eavesdropping is impolite ya know, but it seemed to have something to do with the vial full of pills in her hand. Zadora was pretty nice when she wasn't totally going cuckoo clock style, so I hope nothing was too wrong. 

"Impey and Luna! Are you okay?" Fran's head shot up as he noticed our arrival, standing to his feet before he rushed over to meet us. Zadora, Renfield, and Van all came over too, but there was another surprise arrival of a person that I hadn't seen at first. When Van Helsing moved away from the window, I was rewarded with the sight of a long silver haired beauty with graceful features in her sapphire blue corset with black undershirt, white leather pants neatly tucked into her long black boots, and her long silver rapier hanging at her side. Even more lethal than the sharp blade at her side was the big blue eyes the color of the sky framed with thick dark ashes, and a positively beaming smile that felt like a big bright ray of hope. She was like an arrow straight to the heart.

"Sierra! My sweet angel of light, you have come to grace us with the light of your gorgeous presence!" Holding my arms out wide, I charged forward and swept up the giggling angel in my arms for a big spinning hug. "I'm so happy to see that ole Four Eyes over there hasn't poisoned you yet with that horrendous experience he calls cooking."

"What was that about my cooking?" Van snapped, glowering at me with a spark of maliciousness intent reflecting off his glasses. 

"Impey, stop! You're making me dizzy." Sierra giggled again, playfully slithering her way out of my arms. "I apologize that my duties have kept me from joining in on your efforts till now. However, Van Helsing has kept me updated with the past events, and as soon as I heard that both you and Ms. Iselda had been kidnapped. I came as quickly as I could to help with the search."

"It's no problem, but there's someone you gotta meet!" Taking Sierra's delicate hand in mine, I walked her over to where Luna stood. In the short absence that I had stepped away to greet Sierra, Luna had stationed herself behind Cardia a lot like she did with me when she met the queen. Her cute little ears were slicked back against her head, almost completely flat and invisible except for the fuzzy tips poking out of the slightly messy strands of her hair, and her tail was tapping against her left leg with nervous tremors. Her hands were locked firmly behind her back, her shoulders sloped down as she gazed out from under the fringe of her bangs, her golden eyes so big and round that they almost looked like mirrors. "Lady Sierra Arianell, may I have the honor of introducing you to the most beautiful woman in the world and the one that has captured my heart and made me her love slave, Ms. Luna Iselda. Luna, I want you to meet Sierra, the head of the Azrael house angels and the future wife to Mr. Grumpy Gunshot over there. "

I didn't think Luna could get in more shocked as she absorbed the sight of the second most beautiful lady in the world, but her jaw dropped open slightly and she started stammering. "L-Lady Arianell? An angel? A real angel?...." A slight rosy blush started to bloom across her cheeks as she realized that she had just said that out loud, contrasting sharply with the smears of rust colored blood and dirty grey from whatever she had been doing on the _ Nautilus II _ before she found me. My poor Luna was so much more flustered that when she had even met the queen that she tried to bow and curtsy at the same time, resulting in the piece of Horologium crystal falling from her hands with a loud clatter as she bobbed down. "My apologies for my state and appearance, Lady Arianell. It is an honor to meet you."

"Please, you can call me Sierra. It's an honor to meet you as well." Offering out her hand, Sierra's friendly smile seemed to do Luna a world of good as she timidly smiled back and started to shake the angel's hand till Sierra suddenly frowned like she sensed something when Luna's hands dropped to her sides. "You're injured. May I?" She murmured, hesitating only a moment for Luna's nod of approval before reaching forward to take her hands, turning them palms up for a full inspection.

Thanks to her natural healing ability, the cuts across Luna's palms had healed to the point that they were no longer bleeding, but a thick icky brown crust had formed across the thorn slices. I couldn't help but let out a little sob when she hissed in pain while Sierra started to tend to her wounds, thankfully Sierra had a little medical supplies in her handy little hip pack, plus my favorite angel taking care of my favorite fuzzy angel was sure to make Luna heal up just lickety split.

"Impey, what's this?" Fran's soft voiced question snapped away my attention back to the piece of Horologium in his hand. Glowing softly with an eerie blue light that pulsed slightly like a heartbeat, the blood stained crystal cradled carefully in his hands was twisted this way and that as Fran gave it a thorough inspection. I could almost see the little gears in his head turning, figuring out just what the crystal was. 

"It almost looks like my Horologium." Cardia softly spoke, stepping forward to lightly brush her fingers on one of the smoother sections of the crystal without thorns, lingering slightly on the large blue bloom on the end. "But that can't be."

"It is. The crazy wackjob Remus has built an entirely new Horologium and a _Nautilus_ to go with it. I mean the ship is kinda obvious, but there's a big rosebush shaped Horologium on board and powering it." The details of everything I had seen came tumbling out, Remus, my devices and the old man's, the captives on board. I heard Sierra gasp at that one, and the Marquis walked back over to a small table situated along the wall and started to shuffle through a few papers placed there. 

"Dr. Frankenstein, would it even be possible as to building another Horologium with that amount of power stored inside?" Renfield asked as he held up two different sheets of paper, glancing at each one with a frown before looking over the rim at my alchemist buddy. 

"Theoretically, yes. Anything is possible. Plus if they had my notes and Issac's research, the Horologium would be much easier to rebuild, but it would require someone with an extensive knowledge of alchemy and science. Much more so than what Lord Hastings would provide." Fran gave a small sad smile to the crystal shard in his hands, holding up the ominous weapon for the light to catch and flicker little blue flashes of light all around the room. "But the proof is here."

"Doctor Frankenstein, You mentioned someone with an extensive background in science." The Marquis abandoned his papers except for a small file tucked under his arm, crossing back over to us with his hand outstretched and a small photograph held between his fingers. "Would this person fit that description?"

The best that I could tell, it was a little weedy looking man with a big dark drooping mustache covering the lower half of his face, a receding hairline that ended with a small pony of matching dark hair pulled up at his neck, small watery eyes and thin stork like neck. He was pretty normal looking in my opinion, no instant serial killer maniac vibes or anything, but he had done something because he was dressed in a prisoner's suit of black and white stripes and holding his prisoner number. "Dr. Warren Sneyd. Yes, as a former member of the Royal Society , he would mostly certainly have the knowledge required to preform this task." Fran commented on the picture.

"I see he was arrested, what was his crime?" Van Helsing asked.

Untucking the shaft of papers from the crook of his arm, the Marquis started to read. "Dr. Sneyd was plotting to bomb the entire Royal Society after they refused to approve his experiments in regards to human behavioral changes under extreme stress and potentially reviving those that had deceased in part from his experiments. A very twisted fellow in severe need of help, once Dr Sneyd was arrested, they placed him in a mental facility for proper help. It was there that he was assumed to have met the young Lord Hasting." 

Both Luna and I perked up at that statement, her's being slightly more visible by the upward turn of her pointed ears. "So, little wackjob was in a insane asylum?" I asked.

The Marquis nodded. "Thanks to the info revealed by Ms. Iselda, we were able to uncover a few previously unknown facts about the young lord, and what may account for his particularly harsh treatment of both her and the other subraces, and his delirious undertakings. When the young lord was about six years old or so, his father, the previous Lord Hastings, abandoned his marriage in favor of a new love, taking the young child with him. I believe I have a picture of the family as well... somewhere here." Rapidly flipping through the papers in his hand, a single small photograph floated free and landed face up on the floor next to my boot. I didn't think much of reaching down to pick it up, but when I did, my jaw dropped open to nearly hit the floor.

It was Luna in the picture.

I blinked again, looking closely at the lovely woman standing beside an older nobleman and a much younger and unscarred version of Remus. No, this wasn't Luna. Even though the photo was in black and white, I could tell that the shade of her hair wasn't right, it was too dark. The eyes were too stern and lined with frown lines, and her lips looked like she had never smiled a day in her life. Even though this lady looked like her, she was a long way from my gorgeous baby girl. 

"That's my aunt." Luna whispered softly beside my shoulder. I was so out of it that I hadn't even heard her approach. "Did she marry into the family?"

The Marquis nodded somberly. "Yes, I'm afraid so. After the divorce, the previous Lord Hasting married the young Dya Iselda, a werewolf from your very own Crosshire Pack. The Hasting family had always been involved with certain black market affiliations, but with the demands of his new wife to maintain a certain high quality lifestyle, the Lord turned towards gambling and boxing rings to fund their lifestyle. It was reported that Remus's mother unfortunately drowned herself in the Thames rather than face her life during the divorce, the lord having spread horrible lies of adultery about her in order to gain the legal grounds for divorce. I believe that Remus blames Dya for his mother's death, and for the public mockery that resulted from such a marriage between Human and Werewolf. It was also said that Mrs. Dya was particularly stern with young Remus, and when he was in his sixteenth year, a horrible fire destroyed both the Hasting estate and the Lord and Lady. Evidence of the fire's beginnings was found in Remus's possession, and his lingering mentally unstable state manifested fully which resulted in his interment in the facility that also held Dr. Sneyd. Unfortunately, they were released into Twilight's custody under the request of Isaac Beckford." 

All of this talk about these crazy people hanging out with Cardia's creepy dad made me think of someone I had forgot about seeing on the ship till now. "Hey, Van. I know you said that Alistair was dead and all, but he's still running around with Remus on the ship. I saw him."

"What?" Van's head snapped up in my direction so fast that it was some minor miracle his glasses didn't go flying off. One hand was reaching for the gun holstered against his thigh, knuckles closing threating around the trigger. I won't lie if I said that I didn't start sweating a little bit at the venom in his grumpy four eyes. "You're lying. Alistair is _dead _!"

"Van, please." Sierra stood and walked over to where he stood, a roll of bandages still in her hand where she had tended to Luna. She laid a gentle hand on Van's arm, patting softly and he sighed roughly. "Impey, Alister has been dead for a long time now. There's no possible way he could have been on the ship." Even as calm as she was, I didn't miss the quickest flash of silver in her blue eyes as she spoke.

I chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah, he was. Talking to Remus in that room containing the Horologium. Luna saw him too. Creepy old guy, long grey hair. Top hat and a golden monocle. The works. He was there, flesh, blood, and all."

A ripple of unease rolled through the entire room as the sudden sound of gun and cannon fire rolled through the air, vibrating the floor with the rolling booms and shaking the glass in the windows with a high pitched ting. Cardia and Lupin ran to the windows, as did Fran and Zadora while the Marquis followed a slightly slower pace. Van Helsing wrapped his arms around Sierra as he walked towards the window, the angel in his arms shivering so bad that her blue eyes were veined with a thick ruby red. It was Luna that broke my heart though, her big golden eyes so sad and full of misery, perky ears slicked down to her head, and her tail dangling limply alongside her leg. I just couldn't resist wrapping my arms around her and hugging her shoulders, and planting a kiss or two on her temple for good measure. "Don't worry, sweetie pie. We'll stop him no matter what kind of crap he tries to pull." I promised.

"Mr. Barbicane. How is it feasible that something of that size and weight could fly?" The Marquis quietly asked. "Wouldn't it be nearly impossible to craft enough engines to power the ship alone?" 

" That part goes to both my device and the old man's since they reduce the gravity to zero, plus the new Horologium provides enough power to keep both those devices running. Nemo is a wackjob, there's no doubt about that, but he's a genius who built the original Nautilus and it doesn't surprise me too much that he managed to get this new one working for Remus after we broke the crystal. But, and that's a big but, it most likely doesn't have it's full capabilities to work with yet. That's why he's anxious to get out piece of the crystal back and restore the power balance."

Van leaned towards the window, glancing upward at the monstrous ship raining fire down on London with a determined scowl. The flash of the battle fire reflected on his face, casting a glow off his glasses that made him look totally creepy and evil villain like. "Hmph. Things like that normally break down pretty easy if you attack them from the inside."

"Of course, the old adage that the bigger they are, the harder they fall certainly would prove true in that case." Lupin's comment earned a small flicker of a smile from Cardia.

A breakdown.... That gives me an idea. "Everybody, hold on to your knickers! I've got a plan."

"May God help us if he does." Lupin muttered, gaining more than a few snickers for his remarks. 

"Will it help take down this..." For once, The always well spoken Marquis seemed at a loss for words as he swirled his hand in the air to indicate the _Nautilus II_. "This _invention_?"

I reached my hand up to tug on my goggles, nuzzling my cheek against Luna's and flashing a wink and a grin towards Renfield. "A purely brilliant idea composed from the mind of the world's most brilliant and handsome engineer and fueled by the pure sweet energy of love? Of course! What could go wrong?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters to go...
> 
> Additionally, the angel Sierra belongs to the user Sayna-Yuki from Deviantart. You should really check out Sierra's story and beautiful artwork as well for a beautiful tale set in the Code: Realize universe.


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